Background
While President Trump was happy to claim credit for the initial decisions made in January 2017 by Carrier Corporation and Ford Motor Company to keep certain manufacturing jobs in the U.S., it is not clear to what extent those decisions — or their subsequent reversals — were actually based on any specific policies of the Trump administration.
Carrier Corporation
In early 2016, heating and air conditioning manufacturer Carrier Corporation announced that it would move more than 2,000 jobs from plants in Indiana to Mexico. Shortly after the 2016 presidential election, Carrier announced that it would keep more than 1,000 of those jobs in Indiana, citing financial incentives from Indiana and the possibility of pro-business policies under the Trump administration.
But in May of that same year, Carrier said that it would begin laying off hundreds of workers from those plants — and layoffs began on July 20, 2017.
Ford Motor Company
In April 2016, Ford said that it was planning to build a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico to build small cars. Like Carrier, Ford announced shortly after the 2016 presidential election that it had canceled those plans, and would instead expand its plant in Flat Rock, Mich.. President-elect Trump was quick to take credit for Ford’s decision.
Despite that reversal, Ford announced in June 2017 that it would manufacture its next-generation Ford Focus model in China, rather than in the United States or Mexico — mere months after Trump was sworn into office
American Oversight is investigating both moves to determine what communications each company may have had with the Trump administration about their plans — and whether Trump officials knew about the outsourcing decisions before they became public.
What We’re Seeking
- Office of the U.S Trade Representative, Department of Commerce, or Department of the Treasury communications with Ford Motor Company, former Mich. Gov. Rick Snyder, or Congress regarding the relocation of certain manufacturing operations to China;
- Communications between certain government agencies and the White House or the Trump campaign regarding the relocation of Ford manufacturing jobs to China;
- Communications between different government agencies and the White House or the Trump campaign regarding the relocation of Carrier jobs to Mexico, including records that shed light on what role the Trump administration played — if any — in Carrier’s decisions concerning layoffs; and
- Communications between the Department of Labor and the White House or Ford regarding the Trump administration’s impact on Ford’s decision to relocate the production of the Ford Focus vehicle.
