TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group <2354.TW> said its commitment to Wisconsin has not wavered and it will continue to work with U.S. President Donald Trump and the local government to create new jobs and attract investment to the state.
Wisconsin said last week that Foxconn’s planned factory in Mount Pleasant did not create enough jobs in 2019 to earn its owner Foxconn tax credits, the second year it has missed its targets.
“Foxconn re-asserts it will continue to work with President Trump and state and local government officials to create more jobs and to attract new investment to Wisconsin,” said Foxconn founder Terry Gou in an e-mailed statement on Tuesday.
“Market conditions and the COVID-19 pandemic have altered the timing of our expansion, the specifics of our manufacturing plans, and our product lines have changed. But through it all, Foxconn has pressed forward with its Wisconsin plans.”
The planned $10 billion, 20-million-square-foot campus was hailed by the White House as the largest investment for a brand new location by a foreign-based company in U.S. history and had been cited by Trump in 2017 as proof he was reviving U.S. manufacturing.
However, for many the factory has become a symbol of failed promises in Midwestern states like Wisconsin that were key to Trump’s 2016 election and are now closely watched swing states in the Republican’s bid to be re-elected on Nov. 3.
“The world has changed a lot since Foxconn’s partnership with Wisconsin began, but Foxconn’s commitment to the state has not wavered,” Gou said in the statement, adding that the firm had so far invested $750 million in the state and had become the largest property taxpayer in Racine County.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Writing by Brenda Goh in Shanghai; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Ana Nicolaci da Costa)
