Foxconn Con Imploding

Remember in 2017 when business dolt Donald "Rump" Trump ("The Shart of the Deal") made the big announcement with skeevy former Wisconsin Gov. Scott "Koch Head" Walker that Taiwan- based Foxconn would be opening a major manufacturing plant in Wisconsin (after giving the company $4 billion in tax breaks)?  You know, the plant that was going to bring 13,000 mostly blue collar jobs to the state, and serve as an example of Rump's dealmaking skillz?  Now, it sounds like something quite different than what the hucksters were selling back then:

Rather than a focus on LCD manufacturing, Foxconn wants to create a “technology hub” in Wisconsin that would largely consist of research facilities along with packaging and assembly operations, Woo said. It would also produce specialized tech products for industrial, healthcare, and professional applications, he added. 

“In Wisconsin we’re not building a factory. You can’t use a factory to view our Wisconsin investment,” Woo said. 

Earlier this month, Foxconn, a major supplier to Apple Inc., reiterated its intention to create 13,000 jobs in Wisconsin, but said it had slowed its pace of hiring. The company initially said it expected to employ about 5,200 people by the end of 2020; a company source said that figure now looks likely to be closer to 1,000 workers. 

It is unclear when the full 13,000 workers will be hired. [Ed. note: humming "until the twelfth of never, and that's a long, long time."]

But Woo, in the interview, said about three-quarters of Foxconn’s eventual jobs will be in R&D and design - what he described as “knowledge” positions - rather than blue-collar manufacturing jobs. Foxconn is formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.  

Rather than manufacturing LCD panels in the United States, Woo said it would be more profitable to make them in greater China and Japan, ship them to Mexico for final assembly, and import the finished product to the United States.  

Wisconsin is taking other hits resulting from Rump's business acumen, in the form of Harley-Davidson's fourth quarter profits taking a huge loss and its dairy/ hog/ soybean farmers reeling, all thanks to Rump's tariff war.  It's two years too late there, but at least some are catching on now.

Of course, it's not just Wisconsin that's seeing what a fraud Rump is as a trade"dealmaker." So, it's always wise to remember (as Rick Wilson wrote): "everything Trump touches dies."

(Photo:  Con artists Walker, Rump, Foxconn's CEO Terry Gou, then- Squeaker of the House Paul "Lyin'" Ryan ready to shovel horse manure).