By Nandita Bose and Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Aides and advisers to Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris will focus on economic issues such as cutting food, housing and health care costs, strengthening the child tax credit and drawing a contrast with Republican Donald Trump on tariffs and taxes, aides and advisers said.

Harris, the US vice president, plans to outline some details of her economic plan in a speech in North Carolina on Friday. The speech will also address cost cutting and “price gouging” – a sign of how important consumer prices are to voters in the November 5 election.

Inflation fell below three percent in July for the first time in nearly three and a half years, the Labor Department said on Wednesday. However, high prices for food and consumer goods are still well above pre-pandemic levels.

The economy remains a top concern for U.S. voters, who generally view Republicans as better economic managers.

Harris’ economic platform closely resembles President Joe Biden’s and is aimed at appealing to the middle class. Her campaign will pay particular attention to what resonates with voters in swing states with less than 90 days until the presidential election, advisers said.

“Same values, different vision,” said one adviser, describing how Harris’ economic agenda will differ from Biden’s. “She won’t stray far from him in terms of content, she will emphasize the things that are most important to her.”

The Harris team declined to comment.

The Trump campaign is considering new tax cuts for middle-class households, and Trump has proposed abolishing the tax on tips – which Harris also did last week in Las Vegas.

Harris places great importance on “the financial needs of working families, especially those with young children,” a Harris adviser told Reuters. She has been an advocate of the child tax credit, which lowers the tax burden on low-income families.

“She will accept it,” said the consultant.

Progressive economic ideas often resonate with voters, but they have proven difficult to translate into law. Most of Harris and Trump’s economic priorities must go through Congress. A child tax credit bill passed the House this year but stalled in the Senate.

Not all elements of Harris’ economic agenda will make it into Friday’s speech; a draft is still being worked on. Her campaign team wants to avoid dividing voters and exposing itself to attacks from business groups over the smallest details. She will be “strategically ambiguous” in areas such as energy.

Harris no longer supports measures from her short-lived 2020 presidential run, such as a fracking ban or Medicare for All, advisers said.

She will advance plans to reduce the cost of rental and homeownership, including funding more affordable housing and building climate-resilient communities.

“She’s putting a focus on housing because we know, and she knows, that the housing crisis is a crisis in this country,” said Marcia Fudge, an adviser to Harris and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under Biden.

Harris will also draw differences with Trump on tax policy and tariffs and uphold Biden’s promise not to raise taxes on people earning $400,000 a year or less, advisers said. Trump cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent and introduced other tax breaks that are set to expire next year.

Trump has promised to make the tax cuts permanent and proposed new general import tariffs, an idea Harris opposes. Trump’s campaign team referred Harris to Biden’s economic record on Wednesday.

“America cannot afford another four years of Kamala’s failed economic policies. President Trump has a proven track record of making the country prosperous and affordable, and Americans can trust him to put more money back in their pockets,” said Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose and Jeff Mason in Washington; Editing by Heather Timmons and Alistair Bell)