Deluzio, Fetterman roll out 'Make Stuff Here' agenda to help Dems reclaim working-class voters

As the presidential campaigns battle for the votes of Pennsylvania’s working class, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman and U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio are trying to help Democrats maintain their historic appeal to this crucial bloc and win back disaffected voters.

The two Western Pennsylvania Democrats from Braddock and Aspinwall, respectively, held an event Tuesday to promote their “Make Stuff Here” agenda in front of dozens of union members at the Carpenters Training Center in Collier.

Fetterman and Deluzio described several bills and initiatives meant to increase domestic manufacturing and boost union membership in the region and across the nation.

Fetterman, who lives across the street from the Edgar Thomson Works steel mill in Braddock, said he has always been committed to keeping steel production in the U.S.

“These are family-sustaining jobs, and we need to keep them here,” he said.

Among the politicians’ proposals: targeted tariffs on goods from companies based in non-capitalist economies or imported from countries such as China, Russia and Iran.

Their plan also looks to establish tax credits for domestic steelmaking companies and those that manufacture magnets made from rare earth materials, which are used in cell phones, electric vehicles and MRI machines.

“What you see in this agenda is a very strong commitment on enforcement, especially on Chinese illegal dumping and other bad actors on trade,” Deluzio said. “We want to level the playing field for our domestic industries with some incentives. Many of our competitors across the globe use heavy subsidies.”

Deluzio said a more strategic approach to tariffs — like implementing them on the steel and shipbuilding industries — would benefit workers and make more sense than “just slapping tariffs on everything.”

Former President Donald Trump has proposed a 10%-20% tariff on most imports, as well as levies of more than 60% on China. That has raised alarms among economists.

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has criticized Trump’s tariff plan, calling it a tax on American consumers that could raise their annual bills by nearly $4,000.

Neither the Trump campaign nor the National Republican Congressional Committee responded to a request for comment.

But Allegheny County Councilman Sam DeMarco, R-North Fayette, chair of the county’s Republican committee, said working-class voters shouldn’t be fooled by Deluzio’s and Fetterman’s attempts to curry favor. He tied Deluzio’s efforts to the congressman’s campaign to retain his House seat in November.

“[Democrats’] push for electric vehicles has only increased our reliance on China instead of weaning us off of them in regard to our supply chain,” DeMarco said. “Voters will see through this as well as union leaders whom he ignored until preparing to run for re-election.”

Deluzio said that bad trade deals in the past have hurt union membership and industrial jobs in Western Pennsylvania.

He called the North American Free Trade Agreement of 1992 a mistake and said Congress needs to pass his agenda’s bills to right that wrong.

Deluzio advocated for Congress to pass the PRO Act, a bill to expand labor protections to workers across the country, even in states with anti-labor organizing laws.

Deluzio also said Pennsylvania has an opportunity to expand industrial jobs without imposing tariffs or penalties on international businesses and pointed to a recent University of Pittsburgh study that said massive quantities of lithium could be extracted as a byproduct of fracking, or natural-gas drilling.

Most batteries used in technology — like smartwatches and electric cars — are made with lithium.

He framed his and Fetterman’s approach as a “very different vision” compared to Republicans’ economic agenda, which he criticized as focusing on maximizing profits over helping local manufacturers.

The National Republican Congressional Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

State Rep. Rob Mercuri, R-Pine, is running against Deluzio in Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District, which covers Beaver County and the suburbs of Allegheny County.

Mercuri said Deluzio and other Democrats are just mimicking Trump’s economic plans and trying to pass them off as their own.

“Western Pennsylvania needs representation that is honest with them about how to grow jobs and bring manufacturing back to America,” Mercuri said. “As a small businessman, I know from experience that fiscal responsibility, a pro-energy agenda, and bringing manufacturing back is the best way to lower inflation and bring jobs back to [Pennsylvania].”

Republicans have made inroads with voters who once supported Democrats, particularly in rural parts of Western Pennsylvania. Trump’s appeal to union members, especially in the building trades, was especially high in 2016. President Joe Biden was able to win some of those voters back.

Deluzio doesn’t expect the battle over these voters to end anytime soon.

“There is going to be a fight,” Deluzio said. “There already has been a fight for decades against the policies I am talking about. The threat to the union way of life is real.”