Indiana’s government will subsidize Carrier through a special tax break in exchange for Carrier keeping two-thirds of its jobs in Huntington — jobs the company had said it was moving to Mexico.
President-elect Trump — whose vice president-elect happens to be Indiana’s governor — has waived this decision by Carrier aloft as a victory for Trump’s toughness and dealmaking. It’s worth remembering, though, that Carrier (and its parent company United Technologies) have previously disappointed those policymakers who thought they could get the company to stay — granted enough incentives.
When Carrier announced the 2,100 layoffs in Huntington earlier this year, Sen. Joe Donnelly, a Democrat and big supporter of corporate subsidies, expressed in committee how betrayed he felt.
Here’s what Donnelly said:
“We also in Indiana have been [told] we have one of the best business climates in America. And these same folks said if we put in tax extenders, bonus depreciation, research credit, Ex-Im Bank… I sat here and fought for Ex-Im Bank because these folks came here and said ‘this will help American jobs stay in America.’ So how do you provide the confidence to these workers and others that this compact even exists anymore.”
Indeed, Carrier’s parent company, United Technologies is one of the companies to have seen more than $10 billion in its exports subsidized through the Export-Import Bank.
Timothy P. Carney, the Washington Examiner’s senior political columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]. His column appears Tuesday and Thursday nights on washingtonexaminer.com.
