Foxconn, Wisconsin reach new deal on scaled-back project

Foxconn Technology Group, the world’s largest electronics manufacturer, has reached a new deal with reduced tax breaks for its scaled-back project in southeast Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers and the company announced on Monday.

Details of the new deal were not immediately released. It was scheduled to be approved at a Tuesday meeting of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., the state’s top jobs agency that previously negotiated the initial deal with Foxconn.

The original deal with nearly $4 billion in state and local tax incentives was struck in 2017 by then-Gov. Scott Walker. It was based on Taiwan-based Foxconn’s promise to build a massive $10 billion flat-screen panel manufacturing facility in Mount Pleasant, near the Illinois border, employing up to 13,000 people. Then-President Donald Trump hailed the project as the “eighth wonder of the world.”

But Foxconn, best known for making Apple iPhones, has continually scaled back its plans for the site and missed employment targets that would trigger state tax credits.

Evers, who ran against Walker in 2018 as a critic of the deal, said in a statement Monday that the new deal “works for everyone.”

Jay Lee, Foxconn’s vice chairman, said Foxconn approved the new deal with a desire to lower taxpayer liability in exchange for the flexibility to pursue business opportunities the meet market demand."

Foxconn’s chairman said last month it was considering making electronic vehicles at the facility.