Trump has not yet done enough to keep businesses

President-elect Donald Trump’s threats to retaliate against US companies planning to shift operations overseas constitute a new risk for multinationals, but may not sway those already planning to move jobs offshore.

Trump threw down the gauntlet at a campaign-style rally after striking a deal with Carrier to keep about 1,100 jobs in Indiana in exchange for $7m in state tax incentives over 10 years. “Companies are not going to leave the US any more without consequences. Not going to happen,” Trump told the cheering crowd.

He did not offer details on how he planned to put pressure on companies to keep jobs in the US, but one obvious lever includes the removal of government contracts. That could make companies that work in defence, public works and public services especially vulnerable.

One expert, who requested anonymity, said: “Boeing, for example, would have to play ball if it wants its government contracts renewed.”

Trump coupled the threat with a promise to make the US a better place for business by cutting taxes and streamlining regulations.

“There are a lot of plans already in place,” said Hal Sirkin, a manufacturing expert at the Boston Consulting Group. “CEOs are following the news closely and trying to figure out what all of this could mean for their businesses.”

Some companies said Trump’s broadside was not sufficient to change their plans.

Caterpillar announced in March 2015 that it planned to close a plant in Joliet, Illinois, and move 230 jobs to Mexico. “We are continuing to execute on the previously announced plan on the stated timeline,” said a spokesman at Caterpillar.

Food giant Mondelez International also signalled it would proceed with plans to relocate hundreds of jobs from a plant in Chicago to Mexico.

Not far from Trump’s victory celebration at Carrier in Indiana, industrial companies Rexnord, CTS Corporation and Manitowoc Foodservice all plan to shift activities overseas.

Trump’s plans drew mixed reviews with United Auto Workers Union president Dennis Williams offering accolades.

But the Alliance for American Manufacturing, an industry-labour alliance, offered tempered praise.

“While on balance I believe this week’s Carrier deal was worth doing, it isn’t a practical job creation policy moving forward,” alliance president Scott Paul said.