Aust's Dow CEO Liveris sticks with Trump

The heads of Merck, Under Armour, Intel, the Alliance for American Manufacturing and a union leader have quit Donald's Trump's manufacturing council.

President-elect Donald Trump thanks Andrew Liveris

Australian Dow Chemical boss Andrew Liveris won't quit Donald Trump's manufacturing council. (AAP)

US President Donald Trump still has a friend in Australia's Andrew Liveris.

Darwin-born Mr Liveris, chairman and chief executive of the Michigan-headquartered Dow Chemical Company, announced on Tuesday he would not join the growing list of business leaders quitting US President Donald Trump's American Manufacturing Council.

The heads of drugmaker Merck, sports apparel giant Under Armour, tech multinational Intel, the Alliance for American Manufacturing and the largest group of unions in the US, the AFL-CIO, have all exited Mr Trump's council.

The resignations followed the president's response to the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, where white supremacists chanting Nazi, anti-Semitic and other inflammatory slogans clashed with counter protesters.

Mr Liveris was in January appointed head of the council - designed to generate manufacturing jobs in the US - and has been a visible presence in the White House.

"Mr Liveris will continue to contribute to the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative," a Dow spokesperson told AAP.

Mr Liveris did release a statement condemning the weekend's violence in Charlottesville and declared at "Dow there is no room for hatred, racism or bigotry".

Heather Heyer, a counter protester, was killed and others were injured when they were allegedly mowed down by James Alex Fields Jr in a car.

Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, announced he was quitting the council after Mr Trump's off-the-rails press conference on Tuesday at Trump Tower in Manhattan.

"President Trump's remarks today repudiate his forced remarks yesterday about the KKK and neo-Nazis," Trumka said in a statement.

"We must resign on behalf of America's working people, who reject all notions of legitimacy of these bigoted groups."

Mr Trump slammed the executives who quit the council, telling reporters "they're leaving out of embarrassment because they make their products outside" the US.

Mr Liveris is not alone in staying, with the heads of Johnson & Johnson, Whirlpool, Lockheed Martin, General Electric, Campbell Soup Company, Boeing and Corning choosing to remain on the council.

Mr Liveris and Dow have become the focus of a social media campaign to persuade him to quit.

"Step down or you're complicit," one Twitter user wrote, responding to Dow's release of Mr Liveris' statement.

"Okay Twitter, we know what 2 do. Click these links & #GrabYourWallet," another Twitter user said, adding a link to the Dow website.

"Please leave the council! Do the right thing like @Merck - I showed them my appreciation yesterday by purchasing their stock," one wrote in a tweet to Dow.


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Published 16 August 2017 11:52am
Source: AAP


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