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Republican vice presidential candidate and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance defended his tax proposal on Thursday after CNBC’s Joe Kernen compared it to “industrial policy Democrats get criticized for.”

Kernen suggested on “Squawk Box” there may be “daylight” between Vance and Republican nominee Donald Trump’s economic beliefs, pointing to the Republican senator’s previous call to raise the corporate tax rate. Vance clarified corporate tax rates should be lowered for companies that are creating American jobs, while those shipping jobs overseas should have to pay higher taxes.

“Well what I said is that we need to lower taxes on corporations that are creating jobs in this country and raise tariffs that are shipping jobs overseas and manufacturing overseas,” Vance said. “Look, if you’re trying to take advantage of Chinese slave labor and then use American markets to make a profit on your product, I think, and I know Donald Trump thinks, that we should penalize these companies. But we want companies that are investing in America, hiring in American and creating good American jobs to thrive. But we gotta recognize there’s a fundamental different between a national corporation in this country and a foreign corporation that is benefiting from slave labor.”

Kernen compared this talking point to a populist belief often supported by Democrats.

“This sounds like industrial policy that Democrats get criticized for,” Kernen said, to which Vance pushed back on.

“Oh, no, it’s not. Look, whatever you want to call it, man, the problem is, look, Chinese slaves making $2 a day, and they get caned working 72 hours a week if they want to work 70 hours a week instead,” Vance said. “You want to allow American manufacturers to benefit from that cheap labor? Not only is it going to destroy good American jobs and wages, it’s going to decimate our core manufacturing industry, which I think makes us less productive over time.”

The Ohio senator opposed Trumps’ proposal to cut the corporate tax rate from its current 21% to 15% before becoming the former president’s running mate, telling Semafor in May that the rate does not need “to be cut any further.”

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Vance said American jobs and wages will be harmed by corporations benefiting from cheap Chinese slave labor overseas, and argued the U.S. needs to rely on trade that benefits the American workers.

“Now Donald Trump does believe in trade, and I believe in trade,” Vance said. “But we leave in trade that’s actually going to benefit American workers, not destroy American jobs. So, the final point is look, as you’ve seen on this campaign, there have been a lot of outside groups who try to claim that President Trump or I agree with every single thing that they say. President Trump speaks for himself, and I speak for myself. So, don’t necessarily assume that everything you read about me or him is true, obviously they lie about him quite a bit.”

“But he really does believe, and he’s been right about this for 40 years, we have to make more of our own stuff, we have to build on America and we need corporate tax policy that promotes that, and yeah, sometimes that does mean, if you’re shipping jobs overseas, you’re gonna be penalized for it,” Vance continued.

The vice presidential candidate accused the media and Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign of falsely stating that Trump’s economic proposals will lead to inflation.

Harris unveiled her plan in August to raise the corporate tax rate from its current 21% to 28%. She has received criticism for her proposals to implement a federal ban on “corporate price gouging” in an attempt to lower grocery prices, give first-time home buyers $25,000 in down payment assistance, and place a 25% tax on unrealized capital gains for individuals making more than $100 million in wealth.

(Featured Image Media Credit: Screenshot/CNBC) 

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