Foxconn tells Wisconsin it never promised to build an LCD factory

 Wisconsin stands by its rejection of the company’s subsidies, but both sides signal openness to amending the contract

A man walks past an office building with the Foxconn name displayed outside on Wednesday, May 8 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Foxconn is a electronics contract manufacturing company, which is constructing a plant in south eastern Wisconsin creating thousands of jobs.

 Photo by Joshua Lott for The Verge

In October, Wisconsin denied Foxconn subsidies because it had failed to build the LCD factory specified in its contract with the state. As The Verge reported, it had created a building one-twentieth the size of the promised factory, taken out a permit to use it for storage, and failed to employ anywhere near the number of employees the contract called for. Nevertheless, Foxconn publicly objected “on numerous grounds” to Wisconsin’s denial of subsidies.

Documents obtained through a records request show Foxconn’s rationale: it doesn’t think it was specifically promising to build an LCD factory at all. According to a November 23rd letter to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), Foxconn does not think the factory specified in the contract, an enormous Generation 10.5 LCD fabrication facility, was actually a “material” part of the contract. (“Material” is a legal term that means relevant or significant.)

Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/18/22189436/foxconn-wisconsin-lcd-factory-trump-contract-negotiation