https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/23/foxconn-american-factory-plans-trump

Sam Thielman
Jan. 23, 2017

Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn has appeared to back away from claims it is preparing to build a $7bn factory in the US.

News of the plant, which could create some 30,000 to 50,000 American manufacturing jobs, first surfaced last year after a meeting between now President Donald Trump and the Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son, head of Japanese telecom and tech investment giant SoftBank.

“There is such a plan, but it is not a promise. It is a wish,” Foxconn’s chief executive officer, Terry Gou, told reporters on Sunday. Gou added that he wanted guarantees of inexpensive land and electricity before the company made its investment and warned against US protectionism, according to Reuters.

Trump promised to bring jobs to the US and repeatedly singled out Apple for its use of Chinese manufacturers – Foxconn among them – in stump speeches across the country during his campaign.

•••••

This is not the first time Gou has said he wanted to build a facility in the US. In 2013, Foxconn promised to invest “over $30m to build a high-tech manufacturing facility” in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, according to a Bloomberg report. The plant never materialized.

•••••