Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Trump is claiming a win after Foxconn announced plans to build a factory in Wisconsin

It’s part of a new $10 billion investment in the United States.

Softbank Announces June 20 Commercial Launch Of Pepper Humanoid
Softbank Announces June 20 Commercial Launch Of Pepper Humanoid
Koki Nagahama / Getty

President Donald Trump is claiming victory as Taiwanese manufacturing giant Foxconn announced it would invest $10 billion in the United States and build a new factory employing at least 3,000 workers in Wisconsin.

The new outpost — formally unveiled at an event at the White House on Wednesday — primarily will manufacture LCD screens. Over time, the Trump administration believes it could grow to employ as many as 13,000 workers while paving the way for additional Foxconn investments in other parts of the country.

In the eyes of the White House, the announcement itself marks a major win. Speaking with reporters earlier in the day, a senior official attributed Foxconn’s plans to the “deregulation” policies of the Trump administration and its previous pledges to advance tax and infrastructure reforms — even though the president has yet to offer any such plans to Congress.

A spokesman for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, however, did not comment Wednesday when asked if his state had offered any tax incentives or other perks to Foxconn as it decided where to locate its new factory.

Still, Foxconn’s investment pledge follows months of lobbying by Trump and his aides, who met repeatedly with the company’s chief executive, Terry Gou. In January, Gou himself said Foxconn could invest more than $7 billion in the United States during the Trump administration. Then, in April, he revealed his company was “engaged in discussions” with state and federal leaders.

For one thing, the investment may spare some of Foxconn’s tech customers, like Apple and Google, additional political headaches at a time when Trump continues to slam U.S. companies for making many of their products outside the country.

And it could score some political points for the Taiwanese company, putting it in the ranks of companies like Alibaba, SoftBank and Intel that have announced U.S. investments in a bid to win favor with the White House — even at times allowing Trump to take credit for plans that predate his presidency.

It still remains to be seen how — or if — Foxconn will actually proceed with its commitments. As the Washington Post found earlier this year, the new factory the Taiwanese company announced in 2013 it was planning to build in Pennsylvania never actually materialized.


This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Podcasts
Are humanoid robots all hype?Are humanoid robots all hype?
Podcast
Podcasts

AI is making them better — but they’re not going to be doing your chores anytime soon.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Future Perfect
The old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemicThe old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemic
Future Perfect

Glycol vapors, explained.

By Shayna Korol
Future Perfect
Elon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wantsElon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wants
Future Perfect

It’s not about who wins. It’s about the dirty laundry you air along the way.

By Sara Herschander
Life
Why banning kids from AI isn’t the answerWhy banning kids from AI isn’t the answer
Life

What kids really need in the age of artificial intelligence.

By Anna North
Culture
Anthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque messAnthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque mess
Culture

“Your AI monster ate all our work. Now you’re trying to pay us off with this piece of garbage that doesn’t work.”

By Constance Grady
Future Perfect
Some deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapySome deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapy
Future Perfect

A medical field that almost died is quietly fixing one disease at a time.

By Bryan Walsh