Indiana is giving Carrier $7 million to save 800 jobs. Not everyone's impressed with Trump's deal.

Donald Trump's Carrier deal comes under fire
(Image credit: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

On Thursday, President-elect Donald Trump visited Carrier Corp. in Indiana and claimed victory for a deal that, according to The Wall Street Journal, will result in 800 factory jobs staying in Indianapolis that had been slated to go to Mexico. Carrier still plans to move 600 jobs from that plant to Mexico, plus 700 more from a factory in nearby Huntington owned by Carrier's parent company, United Technologies. In return, Indiana will give United Technologies $7 million in tax breaks and other financial incentives over 10 years, and Carrier will invest some $16 million in Indiana. Carrier said Wednesday the "incentives" were "an important consideration" in its decision.

The deal was hammered out by Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, the vice president-elect, who seemed as surprised as Trump that Carrier agreed to reverse itself on outsourcing the jobs. Not everyone thinks $7 million in tax breaks is a good trade for 800 jobs, especially since 1,300 United Technologies jobs are still leaving for Mexico (Carrier also gets credit in the deal for keeping 300 white collar jobs in Indiana that were not leaving). And the criticism comes from both the right and left.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.