Mexican official: Carrier will ‘suffer’ by keeping jobs in US

A Mexican lawmaker says Carrier’s deal with President-elect Donald Trump to keep about 1,000 manufacturing jobs in the U.S. will only hurt the air conditioning giant.

“The implications are very serious, not only for Nuevo Leon, but for Carrier,” Sen. Marcella Guerra said Wednesday of Carrier’s decision and its impact on her state, according to The Associated Press.

{mosads}“The one who is going to suffer from this is the company … because their products are going to be more expensive. I understand the fight, because it is the same fight all we politicians carry out.”

Trump’s team and Carrier announced late Tuesday they had reached an agreement to halt nearly 1,000 jobs in Indiana from leaving for Mexico. Carrier previously announced in March it would shutter a plant in Indianapolis, effectively eliminating 1,400 U.S. jobs.

The company currently operates one plant in Nuevo Leon, the AP said Wednesday, and has built but not occupied another as part of its planned $200 million expansion there.

The mayor of a Monterrey suburb where the Carrier plant is located, meanwhile, said Wednesday he has not heard from its representatives.

“We haven’t received any formal notification from the company,” Santa Catarina Mayor Hector Castillo said in a news conference. “In fact, we are working normally with them.”

Castillo added that Carrier has already constructed the shell of a new factory in Santa Catarina despite reports of its deal with Trump.

Carrier earlier Wednesday reaffirmed its commitment to free trade in light of its shift in business strategy.

“This agreement in no way diminishes our belief in the benefits of free trade and that the forces of globalization will continue to require solutions for the long-term competitiveness of the U.S. and American workers moving forward,” it said in a statement.

Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence, Indiana’s governor, will announce the details of the deal on Thursday at Carrier’s Indianapolis plant.

The president-elect frequently pledged to force Carrier into keeping its jobs in the U.S. while on the campaign trail.