NEW YORK ��President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday that he is "making progress" in his effort to prevent Carrier Corp. from moving a factory abroad, an issue that had become a rallying cry during his campaign.
"Will know soon!" he said Thursday on Twitter.
Also on Twitter, Carrier said it has talked with Trump. "Nothing to announce at this time," said the company, which this year said it would eliminate 1,400 jobs by moving the plant's manufacturing work to Mexico.
It was the second time in a week that the president-elect asserted that he had intervened to keep a manufacturing plant from leaving the country. Last week he said he helped persuade Ford Motor to keep a plant in Kentucky. But the company said it never intended to close the factory.
The decision to move Carrier's furnace factory attracted national attention when a worker's cellphone video of the announcement to employees took off on social media and led to criticism of Carrier parent United Technologies. In April, Trump said he would impose a hefty tax on Carrier's Mexican-made products and "within 24 hours, they're going to call back: 'Mr. President, we've decided to stay. We're coming back to Indianapolis."'
A representative of Farmington, Conn.,-based United Technologies would not comment beyond Carrier's Twitter post. Representatives of Trump's transition team didn't respond to a request for more information.
Carrier's competitors have shifted production to Mexico in the last 10 years, United Technologies CEO said in a Nov. 1 speech to the Council on Foreign Relations. Acknowledging that the shift would have "impacts on real people in their lives," Hayes said the company gave employees three years' advance notice of the move and is providing training and education.
"Any UTC employee losing his or her job due to the impacts of offshoring will be given the opportunity to obtain a four-year college degree or technical training of their choice on our tab �� tuition, books, and fees," he said. "We take our responsibility seriously."
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(Linly Lin contributed to this report. Allison reported from Washington and Cirilli from Palm Beach, Fla.)
