Trump thinks truckers are ‘lifeblood of our economy’: Official

He's traveling to Pennsylvania to discuss his tax reform plan.

ByABC News
October 11, 2017, 10:04 AM

— -- President Trump will travel to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Wednesday for a speech on his tax reform plan, and will specifically address truck drivers as “the lifeblood of our economy,” according to a senior administration official.

"Truckers, from the president's perspective, are really the lifeblood of our economy," the official said. "When the trucks are moving, that means that our economy is moving; the economy is growing."

The president will speak to approximately 1,000 Pennsylvania workers, and will highlight ways the trucking industry will benefit from the GOP proposed tax plan.

"Trucking is the number one employer in about 29 states around the country. And truckers will be major beneficiaries of the president's tax reform plan in several different ways," the official said.

"When your trucks are moving, America is growing. That is why my administration is taking historic steps to remove the barriers that slow you down. America first means putting American truckers first,” the president will say according to excerpts released by the White House.

In addition to focusing on the role of truck drivers, the president is also expected to make the case that the typical American family would get a $4,000 pay raise under the tax plan.

"We will eliminate the penalty on returning future earnings back to the United States, and we will impose a one-time low tax on money currently parked overseas so it can be brought back home to America where it belongs. My council of economic advisers estimates that this change alone would likely give the typical American household a $4,000 pay raise,” the president is expect to say according to excerpts.

White House officials couldn’t provide the math on that figure, but said more information would be available shortly.

Trump has left it up to Congress to fill in many specifics of his plan, which leaves out details such as which income levels his new tax brackets would apply to.

Trump's proposal includes cutting the top income tax rate, getting rid of the alternative minimum tax, and eliminating the federal estate tax. He also wants to encourage multinational companies to bring back, or repatriate, cash that they've kept overseas. All told, there's more than $1 trillion in cash held abroad by S&P 500 companies, according to Deutsche Bank.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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