Nearly two years ago, President Trump stood in the East Room of the White House and announced that Taiwan-based Foxconn – a major supplier…
Nearly two years ago, President Trump stood in the East Room of the White House and announced that Taiwan-based Foxconn – a major supplier of Apple technology — was going to build its first U. S. manufacturing facility, outside of Milwaukee.
“This is a great day for American workers, and manufacturers, and for everyone who believes in the concept, and the label, ‘Made in the U. S. A,'” the president boasted.
But last summer, the agreement with Foxconn started to crack. The company first said it would reduce the size of the LCD display screens it would make, meaning fewer promised manufacturing jobs. Then, Wisconsin’s Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who had enticed the company with up to $3 billion in state tax credits, lost his re-election bid.
Then, over the winter, another shocker — the company said it might not build a manufacturing plant after all. President Trump hurriedly intervened, and within days says he got Foxconn to recommit to building the facility.
The company says it’s in early phases of construction of the advanced manufacturing plant. But the project has gone through so many changes that nearly everyone involved with it has more questions than answers. Wisconsin’s new Democratic Gov. Tony Evers says he doubts Foxconn will ever create the 13,000 jobs that were promised by 2032.
“I truly believe that they believe at some point in time they’ll have 13,000 employees here. I’m not sure about that.
