Vice President Kamala Harris’ first major policy plan took on the top issue in the presidential campaign — the economy and high prices — with sweeping proposals for expanded government intervention and more federal spending.

She vowed to lower prices at the grocery store with price controls and open up the increasingly out-of-reach housing market with tax subsidies for home buyers.

“Believe me, as president, I will go after the bad actors,” Ms. Harris said in a speech Friday in North Carolina. “I will work to pass the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food. My plan will include new penalties for opportunistic companies that exploit crises and break the rules.”

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Former President Donald Trump said Ms. Harris had gone “full communist.”

“She wants to destroy our country after causing catastrophic inflation,” he said Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania. “Comrade Kamala announced that she wants to institute socialist price controls. You saw that never worked before. Never ever worked.”

He also said she was “promising to hand out things she can’t deliver.”

Ms. Harris’ economic platform mostly serves as an extension of President Biden’s policies but adds a bigger role for the federal government.

She said the unprecedented price controls on food and groceries are necessary because corporations are price-gouging Americans — a charge Mr. Biden made regularly to explain soaring inflation.

Under the Harris plan, the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general could impose harsh penalties on companies that set prices too high.

Ms. Harris also wants to give $25,000 of taxpayer money as down payment support for first-time home buyers. The funds will be available to working families that have paid their rent on time for two years. More generous support will be available for first-generation homeowners.

“I know what home ownership means. It’s more than a financial transaction,” Ms. Harris said. “It’s more than a house. Homeownership, and what that means, it’s a symbol of pride that comes with hard work. It’s financial security.”

Her economic plans also included:

• New tax incentives for builders who construct “starter” homes for first-time homebuyers.

• A $40 billion fund for the construction of affordable rental housing units.

• Partner with state entities to cancel $7 billion of medical debt for up to 3 million qualifying Americans.

• Cap the cost of insulin at $35 and out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs at $2,000 for everyone, not just seniors.

• Make permanent a $3,600 per child tax credit for eligible families that is currently approved through 2025.

• Create a new $6,000 tax credit for people with newborn children.

• Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit to cut taxes for some frontline workers by up to $1,500.

Economists split on the proposal. Some applauded her aggressive move to curb prices and rein in corporate power. Others warned it would disrupt market forces and lead to shortages and higher federal debt.

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has proposed various tariffs such as 10% to 20% duties on imported goods and an eye-for-an-eye style tariff on any country that tried to impose a 100% or 200% tariff on U.S. goods.

Economists warn that the cost of tariffs is passed on to U.S. consumers.

“A tariff is a tax on a foreign country,” Mr. Trump said at the rally. “That’s the way it is, whether you like it or not. A lot of people like to say, ‘Oh, it’s a tax.’ No, no, no. It’s a tax on a foreign country. It’s a tax on a country that’s ripping us off and stealing our jobs, and it’s a tax that doesn’t affect our country.”