Vance’s ascendance from a self-described “‘Never Trump’ guy” to vice-presidential candidate was quick, sped along by agreement over stricter border policies and aggressive trade proposals. But he’s also diverted from typical GOP talking points, including through his pro-union views and support for antitrust regulation.

Here’s a rundown of Vance’s economic vision.

LOWER TAXES

If Trump prevails in November, Vance is likely to go along with the GOP’s push to aggressively cut taxes again. Trump is promising to extend the parts of the 2017 tax law he signed that are set to expire next year, and Vance is expected to support that effort. He has also signed a pledge from Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, to oppose “any and all” tax increases.

Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, named Donald Trump’s running mate Monday, greets supporters as he arrives at the Republican National Convention. Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post

Still, Vance has taken some steps to suggest a break with GOP orthodoxy on taxes. Earlier this year, he introduced legislation to limit large corporate mergers by targeting a tax break for firms with combined annual revenue of more than $500 million. He also introduced legislation to tax large university endowments.

More surprisingly, Vance called in 2021 for tax hikes on corporations after some business leaders planned to respond to GOP-led changes to state voting laws. That position surprised many business executives and GOP donors, who wanted Trump to pick Republican Gov. Doug Burgum, N.D. or Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to be his running mate.

HIGHER TARIFFS

Even more than other vice-presidential contenders, Vance has distinguished himself as an ardent defender of Trump’s aggressive trade proposals.

Vance has cited protective trade barriers as essential for reorienting the U.S. economy, which he argues has become too dependent on services and finance at the expense of manufacturing and heavy industry. In 2021, Vance and Bob Lighthizer, Trump’s chief trade adviser, published an op-ed advocating tougher trade measures against China, sharply criticizing U.S. firms for exploiting “cheap labor overseas.” Vance has defended Trump’s plan to propose tariffs as high as 10 percent on all U.S. trading partners, despite the consensus among economists that such a measure could raise costs for consumers.

“If you apply tariffs, really what it is you’re saying that we’re going to penalize you for using slave labor in China and importing that stuff in the United States,” Vance said on CBS News. “What you end up doing is you end up making more stuff in America, in Pennsylvania, in Ohio and in Michigan.”

STRICTER ANTITRUST REGULATION

The Biden administration has made a major push to ramp up antitrust regulation and crack down on corporate mergers. And it has found a rare Republican ally in Vance.

He’s specifically expressed his support for Lina Khan, President Biden’s commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, and her work on reining in Big Tech firms. Meanwhile, Khan has repeatedly been criticized by the GOP for going too far with the FTC’s authority.

“The fundamental question to me is how do we build a competitive marketplace, that is pro-innovation, pro-competition, that allows consumers to have the right choices and isn’t just so obsessed on pricing power within the market that it ignores all the other things that really matter,” Vance said at Bloomberg’s “RemedyFest” technology forum in March.

STRICTER BORDER CONTROLS

Vance has talked about strict immigration reform as key to protecting U.S. security and the labor market – specifically for native-born workers.

The job market has grown rapidly since Biden took office, with employers adding hundreds of thousands of jobs every month. But Vance has said many of those jobs go to undocumented workers “while American workers struggle to feed their families and struggle to buy homes.” Speaking on Fox News in April, he said that a Trump economy would prioritize higher wages and better jobs for American workers.

Last year, Vance introduced a bill to crack down on illegal visa overstays. Called the Timely Departure Act, the legislation would require some foreign nationals trying to enter the United States on a temporary visa to pay a bond of thousands of dollars. The money would be returned for those who leave on time. Or for those who overstay, the money would be diverted into a Department of Homeland Security account to help pay for detentions and deportations.

During his run for Senate in 2022, Vance vowed to oppose “every attempt by the Democrats to grant amnesty, finish construction of a border wall and double the number of border agents.

“You see a labor shortage. Rather than bringing in a large number of new immigrants, why not try to boost wages in a way that brings some of those workers off the sidelines?” Vance told Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell at a hearing last week. “That seems to be a much better focus from my perspective.”

Many business leaders fear the repercussions of a major crackdown on immigration for the entire job market. That’s especially the case in key industries such as agriculture and construction, which rely heavily on immigrant labor and are still struggling with worker shortages after the pandemic.

SUPPORT FOR UNIONS

Vance has suggested breaking with harsh Republican opposition to organized labor, though he also opposes the measures many labor leaders say are essential to reviving union membership.

In 2020, Vance said he was “not a big fan” of right-to-work laws that sharply curtail unions’ ability to organize. (He also argued those restrictions were not responsible for the loss of blue-collar manufacturing jobs in the United States) In October, Vance also went to the United Auto Workers picket line during a strike against major car manufacturers, in a show of support for a labor action not typical of GOP lawmakers. Biden and several Democratic lawmakers visited the union’s picket line, as well, as did Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., a close Vance ally.

“During 2007-2008, [autoworkers] accepted lower wages when the auto industry really needed some help,” Vance said, echoing Democratic rhetoric on the issue. “And now the auto industry is doing very well and seeing record profits.”

Still, Vance is in other ways a traditional Republican. For instance, he opposes the PRO Act – which would make it far easier to unionize U.S. workforces, a top priority for labor organizers – according to Insider.