Will Trump’s “Retribution” For Off-Shoring Jobs Apply To Carrier Or His Own Company?

President-Elect Proposes 35% Tariff

In a threatening seven-part tweetstorm (above), Donald Trump vowed “retribution” Sunday against any company that “leaves our country for another country, fires its employees, builds a new factory or plant in the other country, and then thinks it will sell its product back into the U.S.” 

Trump added that the U.S. will impose 35 percent tariffs against those companies, but that would have to clear Congress, where one Republican immediately voiced skepticism:

Trump’s tweetstorm came days after he brokered a deal with heating and air-conditioning manufacturer Carrier to keep a factory in Indiana in exchange for $7 million in tax breaks from the state. Under the deal, Carrier will reportedly keep 800 jobs in the U.S. — while still shipping 1,300 to Mexico. But it’s unclear whether Trump’s proposed 35 percent tariff would apply to Carrier’s Mexico operations. 

It’s also unclear whether the tariff would apply retroactively to Trump’s own businesses. 

“Today, Donald J. Trump Collection shirts — as well as eye­glasses, perfume, cuff links and suits — are made in Bangladesh, China, Honduras and other low-wage countries,” The Washington Post reported earlier this year. “Trump’s daughter Ivanka, a vice president at his company and frequent campaign surrogate, markets hundreds of additional products under her own line of jewelry and clothing. Many are made in China.”