At Carrier plant saved from Mexico, president-elect vows to continue fighting for American workers
by Edmund Kozak | Updated 01 Dec 2016 at 4:28 PM
President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence appeared at the Carrier plant in Indianapolis on Thursday to discuss the deal they made with Carrier to prevent over 1,000 U.S. jobs from being offshored to Mexico.
The surprise deal was announced earlier this week, however Thursday was the first time Trump addressed it publicly beyond a few tweets. The fact Trump was able to save over 1,000 American jobs before even taking office has been widely celebrated and held up as proof that he will do everything in his power to boost American jobs.
“Companies are not going to leave the United States anymore without consequences,” said Trump. “It’s not going to happen.”
“They say it’s not presidential to call up these massive leaders of business, I say it’s very presidential, and if it’s not presidential that’s okay,” said Trump.
Trump’s economic “plans have given us renewed confidence in the future of manufacturing in America,” said Greg Hayes, CEO of United Technologies Corp, Carrier’s parent company. “It’s a great day for working people all across the United States,” echoed Pence, who introduced the President-elect.
“Thanks to the leadership of President-elect Donald Trump … Carrier has decided to stay and grow right here in America,” said the future vice president.
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“When Donald Trump was running for president he said that when he was elected the United States of America would start winning again. Today, America won and we have Donald Trump to thank,” Pence said. “I got a feeling working besides this extraordinary man this is just the beginning of a lot more good news all across America,” he continued.
When Trump took to the lectern, he explained that he was inspired to call Greg Hayes on behalf of Carrier’s employees after seeing one of them on the news state emphatically that the plant wasn’t going anywhere because of Trump.
“I called Greg and said, ‘it’s really important, we have to do something because you have a lot of people leaving, and you have to understand we can’t allow this to happen anymore with our country,’” said Trump. “I said, ‘Greg we have to do something. Because we just can’t let it happen.’”
After thanking United Technologies and Carrier for their cooperation, Trump explained the steps he will take to prevent companies from making similar offshoring decisions in the future. “We’re going to be lowering our business tax from 35 percent hopefully to 15 percent,” said Trump.
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“The other thing we’re doing is regulations,” said Trump, who explained that regulations are even more crushing to businesses, small and large, than any tax. “Since about six years ago, 260 new federal regulations have passed, 53 of which affect this plant,” he said.
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“One of the reasons I wanted to do this particular conference [is that] I just want to let all of the other companies know that we’re going to do great things for businesses, so you’re not going to have to leave anymore,” Trump said.
For those who do chose to leave anyway, Trump promised that “there will be consequences, they’ll be taxed very high at the border.”
“Companies are not going to leave the United States anymore without consequences,” said Trump. “It’s not going to happen.”
