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Chinese technology company Foxconn will invest $10 billion to create a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Wisconsin, chairman Terry Gou said.
Gou appeared at the White House on Wednesday where he touched on reducing the costs through artificial intelligence, alongside Sharp. Gou, accompanied by Vice President Mike Pence, U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and other officials, said that since television was invented in America, it was fitting to open an LCD plant in the U.S.
The plant could create 3,000 jobs, with the potential to grow to as many as 13,000 jobs, according to the official, who could not be named because the information was not yet public.
CNBC earlier reported some details of the announcement. A senior White House official previously shared the news.
“Speaking broadly, this has the opportunity to be one of the largest job creators in U.S. manufacturing. These are excellent wage jobs, and [it] has the ability to create tremendous spin-off benefits as the supply side gets built up around these large manufacturing plants,” the official said.
Foxconn will make liquid crystal display (LCD) screens at the facility, alongside other computer and consumer electronic components. It is one of several Foxconn facilities that will come stateside, the official said.
“Foxconn has a full expectation that this is the first of a series of facilities that will be in multiple states and will be part of a robust manufacturing ecosystem,” the official said.
No new tax programs were made to accommodate Foxconn at the federal level, although existing tax programs were used, the official said. When asked if the fact that Wisconsin voted for Trump during the election factored into the deal, the official said there were “a lot of factors” such as workforce and relationship with state leadership that factored into the decision.
“We were very clear that Foxconn had to select a state in which they could be successful,” the official said.
The deal also comes amid tenuous relations between the United States and China, as the administration works to create jobs while driving a hard line on trade policy. Foxconn is not a choice free of controversy: Otherwise known as Hon Hai Precision, the company has come under scrutiny in the past over labor practices in China.
Still, the White House official said the deal represents Trump’s “buy American” agenda.
“One of the reasons this is such a meaningful day is it does represent a milestone in bringing back advanced manufacturing, particularly in the electronics sector, to the United States,” the White House official said.
— With reporting by CNBC’s Justin Solomon.