Trump warns of ‘retribution’ if companies move jobs out of U.S.
President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday issued a dramatic warning to companies that they would face “retribution” in the form of tariffs if they move American jobs overseas, setting up a collision with corporate America and the free-market wing of the Republican Party.
In a string of early-morning tweets, Trump said he intends to keep jobs in the United States by lowering taxes for companies and slashing regulations, two key components of his economic agenda. But he also warned that companies that send workers offshore could face a 35 percent tariff on goods sold back to the United States.
“Any business that leaves our country for another country, fires its employees, builds a new factory or plant in the other country, and then thinks it will sell its product back into the U.S. . . . without retribution or consequence, is WRONG!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
The threat marked perhaps the clearest sign yet since the election that Trump has not abandoned the controversial economic positions he adopted in the campaign. In addition to vowing to hit American companies with severe consequences if they imperil American jobs as a candidate, he pledged to tear up trade agreements and tag products from countries such as China and Mexico with tariffs if they continue to take American jobs.
The comments set up a clash with Republicans who have long argued in favor of free trade and against excessive intrusion by government into the affairs of businesses.
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), a frequent Trump critic, argued that a 35 percent tariff would be passed along to American consumers in the form of higher prices. “Pres-Elect Trump means well. But won’t his 35% tariff idea raise prices on American families? How would it not be a new 35% tax on families?” Sasse wrote on Twitter.
Conservative advocacy group the Club for Growth said it favors Trump’s proposals on tax and regulatory reform but warned of the consequences of cutting off trade.
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Boise State cornerback Tyler Horton, lower left, reaches to trip Air Force running back Jacobi Owens who carries the ball for a short gain in the first half of an NCAA college football game Friday, Nov. 25, 2016, at Air Force Academy, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)





