When you get below the “Whoo! Trump!” headlines on Donald Trump’s deal with air conditioning and heating manufacturer Carrier to keep some jobs in the United States that had been planned to move to Mexico, there are some real head-scratchers.
On Thursday, as he toured the factory floor here to take credit for saving roughly half of the 2,000 jobs Indiana stood to lose, Mr. Trump sent a message to other businesses as well that he intended to follow through on his pledges to impose stiff tariffs on imports from companies that move production overseas and ship their products back to the United States.
Not sure where “giving hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in tax incentives to keep some jobs” equals “following through on his pledges to impose stiff tariffs on imports.”
“The free market has been sorting it out and America’s been losing,” Mr. Pence added, as Mr. Trump interjected, “Every time, every time.”
Leaving aside the fact that the market that’s been sorting things out hasn’t exactly been free at any point, what we’re looking at here is a combination of doubling down on existing practices of bribing companies to keep jobs in the U.S., promising future policy shifts in favor of corporate interests, and conveying that cooperation in one case will make the president-elect happy where not cooperating will lead him to hold a grudge. Making America Great Again?
Meanwhile, Carrier sent a letter to workers raving about how “the incoming Trump-Pence administration has emphasized to us its commitment to support the business community and create an improved, more competitive U.S. business climate.” Gosh, that really sounds like Trump stuck it to them! Oh, and by the way: “We are moving forward with previously announced plans to relocate the fan coil manufacturing lines, with expected completion by the end of 2017.” Okay, then. I’m sure the media will give blanket coverage when those jobs go.
