Pallade Veneta - Harris and Trump target economy in close US election battle

Harris is giving a speech in Pittsburgh, an industrial city in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, in which the Democrat is expected to set out what her campaign says is a "pragmatic" policy, contrasting with that of billionaire former president Trump.

The vice president will then sit down with the left-leaning news channel MSNBC, in a rare test of her ability to deal with unscripted questions since taking over from President Joe Biden as the party's standard-bearer.

Republican contender Trump for his part is scheduled to speak on what he calls a "Made in America" economy in the battleground state of North Carolina, a day after promising a boom driven by hefty tariffs on foreign imports.

The dueling events take place against a backdrop of fresh security worries with Trump, who has already escaped two assassination attempts this year, saying that there were "big threats" on his life by Iran.

A gunman accused of planning to kill Trump at his Florida golf course just over a week ago, Ryan Routh, was indicted Tuesday for the attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate.

The US presidential election remains on a knife-edge less than six weeks before November 5 voting day, with many Americans saying the economy is the most important issue after years of high prices in the post-Covid rebound.

Harris and Trump are both tailoring their economic messaging at the tiny number of wavering voters, in around half a dozen swing states, who are expected to decide the election for a nation of 330 million people.

Since replacing Biden in July, polls have shown Harris gaining on Trump in terms of whom voters trust most on the economy -- but that voters remain unfamiliar with her policies.

- 'Putting America first' -

Harris's campaign said her speech in Pittsburgh would focus on her own middle-class upbringing to show she understands the pressures of making ends meet, in contrast to tycoon Trump.

"For Donald Trump, our economy works best if it works for those who own the big skyscrapers. Not those who build them. Not those who wire them. Not those who mop the floors," she plans to say, according to the campaign.

She will also unveil proposals to "make sure America leads the world in manufacturing in the industries of the future."

Trump is making similar pledges to boost American manufacturing, but with his own protectionist twist.

His campaign said in a statement on his visit to Mint Hill, North Carolina that the Biden-Harris administration was "weak" and that Trump's "unwavering commitment to putting America first is exactly what this country needs to restore our economy."

Trump repeated his frequent promises to penalize companies selling Americans foreign-made goods in a speech in Savannah, Georgia on Tuesday.

Trump has dismissed warnings by experts that his plan would cost US households thousands of dollars a year and that long-term tariffs would just cause more inflation.

Harris's MSNBC interview being broadcast at 7pm ET (2300 GMT) is meanwhile part of her effort to define herself after criticism from Republicans for largely avoiding major interviews and giving no press conferences.

Since Biden dropped out she has only given one interview with a national TV network, in August, when she and her running mate Tim Walz sat for a joint CNN interview.

Trump's vice-presidential pick J.D. Vance described the decision to go on liberal-leaning MSNBC as "legitimately pathetic for a person who wants to be president."

Trump has given a number of interviews in recent weeks, but many of those have also been to friendly media -- while several of his events billed as press conferences ended with him taking no questions.

L.Barone--PV