Vice President JD Vance said the Trump administration supports businesses that buy American, hire American workers and invest in U.S. communities during a visit to defense technology manufacturer Compotech in Brewer, Maine. He also defended President Trump’s trade confrontation with Canada, praised Sen. Susan Collins despite her absence from the Republican event and endorsed former Gov. Paul LePage in Maine’s open 2nd Congressional District. The comments came as U.S. business activity accelerated in August, while tariffs, supply-chain disruptions, potential restrictions on Chinese open-weight AI models and elevated borrowing costs continued to weigh on companies.