Trump advertised Carrier’s December 1, 2016 announcement that it would preserve about 800 jobs in Indianapolis as a decisive break from decades of American executives capitalizing on lower labor costs overseas at the expense of blue-collar workers at home.
Four years later, it’s proven to be nothing of the sort.
This year alone, Indiana employers have sent more jobs to Mexico, China, India and other foreign countries than were saved at Carrier. Without headlines or presidential notice, at least 17 companies — names like Vibracoustic, Molnlycke Health Care, Allura, Altex, Stanley Black & Decker, Dometic, Johnson Controls and Horizon Terra — have closed plants or otherwise reduced employment in Indiana and moved jobs abroad, according to U.S. Department of Labor filings.
“We have many, many firms making these decisions and Trump likes to negotiate these deals one at a time. It’s trade policy by press release and often there’s nothing behind the press release,” said Robert Scott, senior economist with the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. “He makes a deal, smiles for the photographers and then he walks away.”
