U.S. President-elect Donald Trump appears at a
USA Thank You Tour event at U.S. Bank Arena in
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S., December 1, 2016.
By
Doina Chiacu
| WASHINGTON
President-elect Donald Trump drew a rebuke
from former Democratic presidential candidate
Bernie Sanders on Saturday, after turning his
attention to another Indiana company planning a
move to Mexico.
"Rexnord of Indiana is moving to Mexico and
rather viciously firing all of its 300 workers.
This is happening all over our country. No
more!" Trump said in a Friday night Twitter
post.
Rexnord Corp (RXN.N),
an industrial supplier based in Milwaukee,
announced plans in October to move a bearing
plant, and its 300 jobs, from Indianapolis to
Mexico, employees told the Indianapolis Star at
the time.
Company representatives on Saturday did not
respond to a request for comment on Trump's
tweet.
The Republican, who takes office on Jan. 20,
warned on Thursday of consequences for companies
that move jobs out of the United States but did
not specify what they would be.
Trump, who campaigned on promises to keep
manufacturing jobs from fleeing the country,
claimed credit for a deal in which Indiana state
officials agreed to give United Technologies
Corp (UTX.N)
$7 million worth of tax breaks to encourage the
company to keep around 1,000 jobs at its Carrier
unit in Indianapolis instead of hiring in
Mexico.
The agreement was less than a complete
victory for Trump, as the air conditioner maker
will still send an estimated 1,300 jobs there.
The deal does nothing to prevent other
employers from shipping work out of state and
has been criticized by Democrats and Republicans
alike who call it corporate welfare.
Sanders, who attacked U.S. trade policy in
his race against Hillary Clinton for the
Democratic presidential nomination, said Trump's
deal with Carrier set a "very dangerous
precedent" of having taxpayers subsidize
multi-billion dollar corporations to "beg them"
to keep jobs in the country.
On Saturday, he challenged Trump over his
Rexnord tweet.
"What are you going to do, @realDonaldTrump?
Stand up for working people or give the company
a massive tax break?" Sanders tweeted in
response to Trump's post.
Sanders supports tougher policies on
corporations for outsourcing.
During the presidential campaign, Trump said
his administration would put a 35 percent import
tariff on goods made by American manufacturers
that moved jobs offshore. He frequently
pilloried Carrier for planning to move
production to Mexico as he appealed to
blue-collar voters in the Midwest, including in
Indiana, whose governor, Mike Pence, is the vice
president-elect.
It is unclear what steps would have to be
taken by federalauthorities before Trump could
retaliate against individualcompanies shifting
jobs abroad.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by
Alistair Bell, Richard Chang and Bill Rigby)
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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-rexnord-idUSKBN13S0PU