By the end of the campaign there was a lot riding on Carrier’s plan to move 2,000 manufacturing jobs out of Indiana south to Mexico. Donald Trump made a campaign pledge to keep the air-conditioner maker’s parent company, United Technologies, from closing two factories and eliminating thousands of jobs in his running mate’s home state. On Tuesday, multiple outlets report that the Trump transition team is set to announce a deal Thursday that will keep half of those jobs from leaving for Mexico.
It’s unclear what tools the Trump negotiating team used to limit the job losses that were set to be staggered over a three-year period. The U.S. government is a big customer of United Technologies and accounts for roughly $5.6 billion in military sales for the company each year. Losing even a small portion of those contracts would make the relocation to Mexico, which is expected to save the company $65 million a year in labor costs, far less appealing.
“In exchange for keeping the factory running in Indianapolis, Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence are expected to reiterate their campaign pledges to be friendlier to business by easing regulations and overhauling the corporate tax code,” the Times reports. “In addition, Mr. Trump is expected to tone down his rhetoric threatening 35 percent tariffs on companies like Carrier that shift production south of the border.”
Update, 10:48 p.m.:
