Taiwan electronics giant announces Wisconsin factory
Foxconn promises 3,000 jobs in $10 billion plant
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that electronics giant Foxconn will build a $10 billion factory in Wisconsin that’s expected to initially create 3,000 jobs, the largest economic development project in state history.
The announcement comes at a critical juncture for a Trump administration that pledged to generate manufacturing jobs but has struggled to deliver results as quickly as the president promised.In a White House speech, Trump said the financial commitment by Foxconn CEO Terry Gou was a direct result of his electoral win.
“If I didn’t get elected, he definitely would not be spending $10 billion,” Trump said. “We are going to have some very, very magnificent decades.”
But the decision to build the plant in Wisconsin also stemmed from $3 billion in state economic incentives over 15 years if Foxconn invests $10 billion in the state and ultimately adds 13,000 jobs. The incentives would only be awarded if Foxconn creates the jobs and pays an average salary of nearly $54,000.
The Wisconsin factory, scheduled to be open by 2020, would be massive. The campus dubbed “Wisconn Valley,” would cover nearly 1.6 square miles.
It will produce liquidcrystal display panels, or LCDs, that are used in televisions and computer screens. It will be located in the congressional district of House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Taiwan-based Foxconn is perhaps best known for assembling Apple iPhones in China.
Inside the White House, discussions with Foxconn about opening a U.S. plant were led over several months by Jared Kushner, a senior adviser and the president’s son-in-law, and Reed Cordish, an assistant to the president. The president had met personally with Gou, who on Wednesday complimented Trump’s leadership at the event by saying, “Mr. President, the eagle flies.”
Critics have cautioned that Foxconn has made promises before to invest in the U.S. and not followed through. Foxconn promised in 2013 to invest $30 million and hire 500 workers for a new, high-tech factory in Pennsylvania that was never built.
Walker said he planned to call a special legislative session to consider the incentives.