Foxconn scores generous benefits package for first U.S. factory

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iPhone sales drive Apple’s biggest supplier to big profits
Wisconsin is offering a super generous package to attract Foxconn.
Photo: CBS

Wisconsin will be the site of a new display factory built by Apple manufacturer Foxconn — but local residents will be paying for it.

According to a new report, Wisconsin residents will be coughing up an extra $1 billion on top of the existing $3 billion package of subsidies to attract Foxconn to the area. This “sweetener” will come out of public funds, and will leave the state “on the hook” for 40 percent of the public bonds which finance local expenses should the project flop.

The funds will go toward improving the state highways and local roads near the site, along with other improvements and benefits.

According to an independent analysis, it will take the state around 25 years to fully reclaim its subsidies sum if Foxconn manages to create the total number of jobs it is expecting.

The project is already receiving pushback from some groups on account of the incentives being offered. However, State Republicans have said that the deal is a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to enter Wisconsin into the world’s high-tech economy.”

Foxconn’s U.S. plans

Foxconn has already started handing out contracts in the area. On Tuesday it announced the awarding of contracts totaling $14 million to eight companies — with six based in Wisconsin — which will be used for building its new manufacturing campus.

Foxconn’s facility in Wisconsin is set to be a sprawling $10 billion, 1,000 acre campus. The facility is on track to open in 2020, although it may well open before then. The hope is that it will ultimately create around 13,000 local jobs. Wisconsin’s state Assembly voted last August to approve a bill offering Foxconn the initial $3 billion incentive package for its new plant.

Foxconn’s decision to move to the U.S. is linked with President Donald Trump’s bid to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. The manufacturing giant has also said that producing displays in the United States will save money on shipping from China.

Source: WSJ

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