Republican nominee Donald Trump says he plans to make interest on car loans tax deductible and negotiate the signature trade deal he signed as president, as part of an effort to strengthen domestic auto production.

Mr. Trump laid out his plan Thursday at the Detroit Economic Club, where he cast himself as a savior of Michigan’s all-important auto industry. He said he saved the state’s industry when he was in office and vowed to make it “bigger and more important than it ever was” if he returns to The White House.

“Today, I am also announcing that as part of our tax cuts, we will make interest on car loans fully deductible,” Mr. Trump said, sparking applause. “That is going to revolutionize your industry.”

---

---

Mr. Trump also vowed to expand tax deductions on work vehicles for small businesses and said he plans to update the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, which replaced NAFTA and took effect in 2020.

“I will also seek strong new protections against trans-shipments so China and other countries cannot smuggle their products and auto parts tax-free through Mexico to the detriment of our workers and supply chains,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump said his proposal is part of a broader plan to revitalize the auto industry. This plan includes slapping stiff tariffs on imports from China and other countries, lowering tax rates for companies that make their products in the U.S., and providing new tax breaks for businesses.

“Tariffs are a very important thing. They need a public relations agent to straighten out that word,” Mr. Trump said, alluding to the blowback his plan has received. “It is one of the most beautiful words in the whole world. It is going to make us wealthy again.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, and Mr. Trump are locked in a tight battle in Michigan which, along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, has comprised the “Blue Wall” that has traditionally voted Democrat in presidential races.

That changed in 2016 when Mr. Trump carried the states over Hillary Clinton, but President Biden moved them back into the blue column in 2020.

The Harris campaign has scoffed at Mr. Trump’s pledge to strengthen the auto industry.

This month, the Democrat’s campaign highlighted a report in the Detroit News titled “History Casts Doubt on Donald Trump’s Auto Industry Promises.”

The newspaper reported that Mr. Trump promised during the 2016 campaign to restore the industry’s jobs and prevent the closure of car plants.

But plants did shutter. The number of jobs in the auto industry in Michigan fell on Mr. Trump’s watch from 175,000 to 171,300 in February 2020, before the coronavirus hit, and continued to fall to 166,300 when he left office. 

Mr. Trump, though, said he saved the auto industry once and that when he takes the oath of office next year, “the four-year-long nightmare for the American autoworker” will end.

“If you vote for Trump, you will see a mass exodus of manufacturing jobs, but from Mexico to Michigan, for Shanghai to Sterling Heights and from Beijing to right here in beautiful Detroit,” Mr. Trump said. “Our car industry will have a renaissance like we have never seen before in this country.”