INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- President-elect Donald Trump and Carrier have reached a deal that will keep nearly 1,000 factory jobs in Indiana, the company said on Tuesday.
Carrier poses an early critical test for Trump, who promised during the campaign to keep American jobs from fleeing to Mexico.
Trump and Mike Pence, the vice president-elect and current governor of Indiana, will be in Indianapolis on Thursday to announce the deal, which will include new inducements from the state according to CNBC's David Faber.
The company, which is owned by defense contractor United Technologies, announced in February that it would close two Indiana plants -- a Carrier plant in Indianapolis that employs 1,400 workers and a United Technologies Electronic Controls plant in nearby Huntington, Indiana, that employs 700.
The company, which manufactures heating, ventilating, air conditioning and refrigeration systems, planned to send work to Mexico starting next year. That move would have saved it $65 million a year in labor costs, according to the union that represents the workers.
United Technologies is a leading defense contractor that benefits from billions of dollars in federal spending, so it needs to maintain good relations with the incoming Trump administration.
United Technologies collects about $5.6 billion in annual revenue from U.S. government contracts, according to company filings, which is equal to about 10% of its overall revenue.
Indiana lawmakers have started to react to the news.
Sen. Dan Coats took to Twitter to congratulate Trump and Pence on the deal
Congressman Andre Carson released the following statement:
"The entire Indiana delegation has been working for months in a bipartisan way to keep Carrier jobs in Indiana. I look forward to learning more about the details of this plan which I hope benefits thousands of Hoosier workers."
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett issued the following statement:
"Since February, Indianapolis has been united in working with state and federal partners to help those families affected by Carrier's shortsighted business decision. I am hopeful that President-elect Trump's efforts will keep many of these jobs here in Indianapolis and I trust our national leaders will continue working alongside us to assist the Carrier workers whose jobs will still leave in the coming years, as well as the families affected by the recent Rexnord announcement and the thousands more in our community who deserve full-time employment and a living wage."
