Foxconn has cost Wisconsin at least $3.5 billion in tax breaks and grants
President Trump gives remarks at the groundbreaking for a $10 billion Foxconn facility in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin Thursday at 2:15 p.m. ET.
House Speaker Paul Ryan opened the event ahead of Mr. Trump’s remarks.
« Jobs are being created in America, wages are going up, and Wisconsin is leading this story, » he said. « This story right here of Foxconn— it’s the most vivid picture of what a strong and healthy economy looks like. »
Foxconn has cost the state at least $3.5 billion in tax breaks and grants, according to calculations from Wisconsin’s nonpartisan legislative fiscal bureau. At that rate it would take the state 25 years to break even on its investment, the bureau calculated.
In other words, each job Foxconn has promised to create costs the taxpayers $263,000. The company has said at least 13,000 direct jobs would be created, paying an average of $53,000 a year.
This would be Foxconn’s first factory in the U. S. The Taiwan-based electronics giant is a major assembler for Apple. The Wisconsin factory will be devoted to high-definition flat-screen TVs.
The Associated Press points out that Harley-Davidson, which announced this week that it would move production of some of its motorcycles overseas in order to avoid new tariffs, is just 30 miles away from the new Foxconn plant.
