Trump lays out new tax-cut heavy economic plan

By Michael Hernandez and Ovunc Kutlu

WASHINGTON (AA) – Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Monday unveiled his plan to foment economic growth, leaning heavily on tax cuts and American exceptionalism as he seeks to correct his campaign’s floundering course.

Speaking at the Detroit Economic Club, Trump said he would simplify America’s convoluted tax code, cutting the number of tax brackets from seven to three “and dramatically streamline the process.”

Americans in those brackets would be taxed at 12 percent, 25 percent and 33 percent.

“For many American workers their tax rate will be zero,” he said without elaborating.

Last year, Trump proposed a four-bracket schema in which taxpayers would be taxed at zero, 10 percent, 20 percent and 25 percent.

Trump further suggested that businesses should not have to pay more than 15 percent of income -- less than half of the current 35 percent corporate tax rate.

He also pledged to reverse course on the Obama administration's economic regulation saying “it is time to remove the anchor that’s taking us down.”

On the international stage, Trump called for the U.S. to renegotiate its North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico and pull out altogether from the Trans Pacific Partnership.

"We are ready to show the world that America is back -- bigger, better, and stronger than ever before," Trump said. "We are in a competition with the world, and I want America to win."

Poised to reverse the clean energy policies of President Barack Obama, Trump said he would reopen coal mines and coal-fired plans, and bring steel and coal workers back into the industry.

Promising to "unleash an energy revolution" for the country, the Republican candidate argued that lifting restrictions on energy would boost GDP by more than $100 billion annually.

"We will put American steel into the spine of this nation by American workers. Americanism, not globalism, will be our new credo,” he said. "When we reform our tax, trade, energy and regulatory policies, we will open a new chapter in American prosperity."

Separately, the Democratic Coalition Against Trump political action committee announced that it is filing a complaint with the U.S. border control agency about Trump’s wife’s immigration history amid claims she worked illegally in the U.S. as a model. Illegal immigration has been a cornerstone of Trump's campaign.

Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton will unveil her competing economic plan Thursday, also in Detroit.