Trump Vows To Make Car Loan Interest Tax Deductible: ‘Stimulate Massive Domestic Auto Production’

Former President Donald Trump announced in Detroit on Thursday that if he wins the election, he will make car loan interest “fully” tax-deductible, adding the policy to his plans for other major tax cuts.

During a speech at the Detroit Economic Club, Trump said the tax deduction on car payments would “revolutionize” the car industry and “stimulate massive domestic auto production.” The former president added that the policy would “make car ownership dramatically more affordable for millions and millions of working American families.”

Today, I am also announcing that as part of our TAX CUTS, we will make interest on car loans FULLY DEDUCTIBLE… pic.twitter.com/q5RUbo0lRO

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 10, 2024

In his speech, Trump also reiterated his promise to impose tariffs on car companies that manufacture vehicles outside of the U.S., a policy he says would bring jobs back to places like Detroit and Flint, Michigan.

“I want German car companies to become American car companies. I want them to build plants in America. Otherwise, I’d rather not have their cars here,” Trump said.

At another point of his speech, Trump warned that if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the election, the U.S. “will end up being like Detroit.”

“I don’t think anything that we’re talking about today is high on her list,” Trump said. “The whole country is going to be like, you want to know the truth? It’ll be like Detroit. Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president. You’re going to have a mess on your hands.”

Trump in Detroit: The whole country will be like Detroit if Kamala Harris is your president pic.twitter.com/KW3nqtuSd9

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 10, 2024

In his multiple campaign stops in Michigan, an important battleground state in the 2024 election, the former president has focused on the car industry. While speaking to Michigan voters last month, Trump promised that his administration would put a 200% tariff on vehicles manufactured outside of the U.S.

“They think they’re going to make their cars there and they’re going to sell them across our line and we’re going to take them and we’re not going to charge them tax. We’re going to charge them. I’m telling you right now, we’re putting a 200% tariff on them, which means they’re unsellable,” he said.

Jobs in Michigan’s auto plants, car parts factories, and corporate offices of major car companies have dropped by 35% since 1990, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, CNN reported earlier this year. Those job losses in Michigan are due, in part, to the automation of factories, but also due to companies moving their manufacturing bases to Mexico.

“We are going to bring so many auto plants into our country. You are going to be big or bigger than you were 50 years ago,” Trump told a crowd in Flint in September. “If they’re not willing to build a plant, we don’t want their product.”