Politics

Bernie Sanders Is Calling Donald Trump's Bluff

November 27th 2016

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Sunday put pressure on President-elect Donald Trump to keep his campaign promise to prevent outsourcing and to restore manufacturing jobs to the United States.

Sanders specifically pointed to Carrier, the air conditioning equipment manufacturer, which plans to close its plant in Indiana and move factory jobs to Mexico, The Hill reported:

"'I will soon be introducing legislation to make sure that Donald Trump keeps his promise to prevent the outsourcing of American jobs,' Sanders said in a statement. 'For the sake of American workers, this is a promise that cannot and must not be broken.'

"Sanders aims to prevent companies like Carrier from moving to foreign countries by withholding federal contracts, tax breaks, loans, or grants from corporations that move more than 50 jobs overseas.

"His legislation, titled the Outsourcing Prevention Act, would also impose an outsourcing tax of either 35 percent of the company's profits or an amount equal to its total savings from outsourcing the jobs."

Trump has previously called for a 35 percent tax on Mexican imports.

The president-elect specifically named Carrier as one of the American companies that would need to pay tariffs on goods produced in other countries. More recently, Trump tweeted: "I am working hard, even on Thanksgiving, trying to get Carrier A.C. Company to stay in the U.S. (Indiana). MAKING PROGRESS - Will know soon!"

Carrier on Thursday confirmed via Twitter that it is in talks with Trump and his staff.

Share your opinion

Do you think Trump will keep his campaign promise of preventing outsourcing?

Yes 14%No 86%