President- elect Donald Trump Friday called out industrial bearings and chain manufacturer Rexnord Corp. for its plans to move 300 jobs from its Indiana operations to Mexico.
“Rexnord of Indiana is moving to Mexico and rather viciously firing all of its 300 workers,” Trump wrote on his Twitter feed Friday night. “This is happening all over our country. No more!”
Rexnord — based in Milwaukee, WI — intends to move production of industrial bearings from Indianapolis to Monterrey, Mexico, according to the employee union. The move is expected to begin early next year.
On Sunday morning, Trump sent out six Tweets reaffirming his position that companies that move production offshore and fire workers will face consequences, such as a 35 percent import tariff.
“There will be a tax on our soon strong to be border of 35 percent for these companies wanting to sell their product, cars, A.C. units etc., back across the border,” he wrote. “Please be forewarned prior to making a very expensive mistake!”
Rexnord has not yet responded to Trump’s warning.
Trump has encouraged business leaders to explore relocating factories between states and negotiating for tax breaks, encouraging a strategy that some state officials fear will escalate an arms race of incentives, various news outlets have reported. He has also promoted lower corporate tax rates as a means of keeping jobs in the U.S.
Rexnord employees and their families held a rally Nov. 11 to protest the loss of jobs. The steelworkers union, which represents the unionized workers, said Rexnord rejected the union’s proposals for wage freezes and other concessions to lower costs. They now are reportedly negotiating severance packages.
Rexnord is at least the third manufacturer in Indiana this year to announce Mexico relocation plans. The Carrier Corp., a division of United Technologies earlier this year announced plans to move some 2000 jobs to Monterrey Mexico.
However, Trump reportedly negotiated an agreement last week in which the Carrier Corp. will receive a $7 million incentive package in the deal in exchange for keeping some 1,000 jobs at its Indianapolis plant,
The package will reportedly include $5 million in tax credits over the next decade, $1 million in training grants and up to $1 million in additional tax credits based on its planned $16 million investment in the factory.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who is still the governor of Indiana, offered no clues about any negotiations with Rexnord during two appearances on national news shows Sunday. But both Pence and President-elect Donald Trump have repeatedly said that there could be consequences for companies, such as Rexnord, that shift jobs to other countries.
Here is Trump's series of Tweets posted Sunday morning regarding the offshoring of U.S.-based companies:
