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Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer Foxconn on
Wednesday announced plans to build a 10 billion dollars worth LCD
display panel screen plant in Wisconsin, a deal President Donald Trump
asserted would not have happened without his efforts.
The
company said it plans to invest 10 billion dollars over four years to
build a 20-million-square-foot plant that could eventually employ up to
13,000.
Trump tweeted Wednesday night, saying "Thank
you Foxconn, for investing $10 BILLION DOLLARS with the potential for up
to 13K new jobs in Wisconsin!"
He also praised
Foxconn chairman Terry Gou at a White House event, asserting, "if I
didn't get elected, he definitely wouldn't be spending 10 billion
dollars... This is a great day for America."
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker said at the White House
that his state will award 3 billion dollars in incentives and sign a
memorandum of understanding on the investment on Thursday.
He
told reporters at the White House that the state legislature will need
to approve the 3 billion dollars incentives package. About half of it is
for capital costs, while the rest is for workforce development. There
are also some sales tax exemption incentives.
Foxconn,
formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd., said in a
statement that the investment "signifies the start of a series of
investments by Foxconn in American manufacturing in the coming years."
But Foxconn has had a mixed record following up on promises to create new jobs in the United States.
In
2013, Foxconn said it would invest 30 million dollars and hire 500
workers for a new factory in Pennsylvania, but that facility was never
completed. Foxconn has another small operation in Pennsylvania.
Foxconn,
a major supplier to Apple for its iPhone, said last month it plans to
invest more than 10 billion dollars in a display-making factory in the
United States.
Wisconsin's tax incentives would be awarded over 20 years if Foxconn meets hiring targets, officials said Wednesday.
Walker said the plant was the largest economic development project in the state's history.
White
House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus told a Wisconsin TV station that
Trump was aboard Marine One over Kenosha, Wisconsin, in April and
spotted the site of a former Chrysler plant.
When Foxconn executives met with Trump in the Oval
Office, "the president said I know a good spot where you should go –
that place in Kenosha," Priebus recounted.
Walker said Foxconn is considering several sites in southeast Wisconsin and will announce a final site soon.
Trump
has called for companies to build more products in the United States
and open additional plants. He has made several announcements since his
election in November about US investments by both foreign and domestic
manufacturers, building on his campaign focus of boosting American jobs.
Some of those announcements sought to take credit for previously
announced investments.
Corporate Welfare
Wisconsin
state Senator Jennifer Shilling, a Democrat, questioned whether there
is "legislative appetite for a 1 (billion) dollars to 3 billion dollars
corporate welfare package... The bottom line is this company has a
concerning track record of big announcements with little
follow-through."
Tai Jeng-wu, CEO of Foxconn's
Japanese unit Sharp Corp., said in June that six US states were being
evaluated for a possible location for a plant to make displays.
The
United States has added 70,000 manufacturing jobs since November,
bringing the total to nearly 12.4 million, but has not added any net
factory jobs in the last two months, according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
Overall only 8 percent of US workers are
employed in manufacturing, down from 22 percent in 1970 due to the
impact of technological change and the growth of global supply chains.
Trump
told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday that Apple Chief Executive Tim
Cook has committed to build three big manufacturing plants in the United
States. Apple did not comment.
