back to article Foxconn denies it will ship Chinese factory serf, er, workers into America for new plant

Electronics manufacturer Foxconn has denied that it is planning to import Chinese workers into America for its controversial new factory in Wisconsin. On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Foxconn was having trouble finding enough suitable qualified workers for the assembly plant, and as a result was planning to …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    In other news, Amazon played a dirty game with its new HQ...

    ... and gullible administrator made their best to help Amazon to get the best deal...

    1. Sampler

      Re: In other news, Amazon played a dirty game with its new HQ...

      This has been the worst trade deal in the history of trade deals, maybe ever...

      1. Pascal Monett Silver badge

        Well yeah ; it's a Trump deal, what did you expect ?

        1. elip

          No, it is not.

          The Foxconn deal was being negotiated *way* before Trump got into office. This is a Scott Walker deal. Please stop associating Trump with it.

          1. GX5000

            Re: No, it is not.

            TDS is strong in these threads though, and facts rarely make a difference but thanks for being a Captain@!

      2. steviebuk Silver badge

        Re: In other news, Amazon played a dirty game with its new HQ...

        Looking into Trumps history, despite doing the Apprentice, it turns out he's actually shit with business'. How do you make a casino go bankrupt.

        1. MJI Silver badge

          Re: In other news, Amazon played a dirty game with its new HQ...

          Funny but whenever I have seen Apprentice it is Mr AMSTRAD.

          Was a Trump a contestant who got kicked out early?

        2. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

          Re: In other news, Amazon played a dirty game with its new HQ...

          Looking into Trump[']s history, despite doing the Apprentice, it turns out he's actually shit with business

          Unfair, I think. Trump has been pretty successful at his business, which is extracting money (for himself) from investors to fund a lavish, if tasteless, lifestyle without consequences (again, for himself).

          He's in an extraction industry. Those tend to leave a lot of damage behind. In Trump's case, the resource he's extracting is capital, and the environment he's trashing is a series of corporations. But those "businesses" exist only as a vehicle for his personal profit.

          Trump operates in a middle ground between genuine investment and entrepreneurship on the one hand, and honest embezzlement on the other.

  2. steviebuk Silver badge

    Sounds like a mess

    The American workers probably won't put up with the conditions the Chinese do so its probably another reason they'll find it hard to hire people. And the amount of money the US are pumping into it, it seems pointless. Trump will create his own "fake news" saying its great and his idea and ignore how much it will cost the tax payer. Maybe thats why he managed to make his casino go bankrupt.

    And I'd put a bet on the Chinese dumping loads of waste but claiming they are following their legal allowance.

    1. spold Silver badge

      Re: Sounds like a mess

      Yes between Trump and Foxconn they probably overestimated the supply of workers with little hands to assemble these small devices in the US.

      1. BebopWeBop

        Re: Sounds like a mess

        Well maybe they took Trumps hand as a model?

  3. Gene Cash Silver badge

    few Chinese workers have volunteered to move to Wisconsin

    Considering the propaganda China has probably spread about the West... it'd be like asking an American to move to the USSR to work during the Cold War. You would get very few takers.

    I'm kind of surprised at his reaction to this attitude.

    1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      Re: few Chinese workers have volunteered to move to Wisconsin

      Considering the propaganda China has probably spread about the West...

      There is a Slavic saying: Every train has its passengers.

      Romania has that whole part between Oradea and the Ukrainian border. Bulgaria has its north-Western and Southern corners. Half of Russia is places like that. Hakassia, Baskurustan, you name it. And, surprise, surprise, China has its inland.

      You will never understand looking at what immigrants do as job how they agree to it.

      Until you travel there.

      Then, you will understand why there are places from where even Wisconsin has that paradise style aural glow.

      Those are the places where Foxconn recruits their workers for their Chinese factories too by the way. Very few locals work in any of their Chinese plants - it is all people who live in their dorms and travel from the inland for that. Sure, most of them come to regret it after a time so no wonder the dorms have steel safety nets to prevent people from jumping out of the windows.

      1. Youngone Silver badge

        Re: few Chinese workers have volunteered to move to Wisconsin

        So what you're saying is that Foxconn treats it's Chinese workers like slaves, and presumably wants to treat it's new US workers the same way?

        Sounds about right.

        Anyway, I don't blame the Chinese who don't want to go to Wisconsin. I've been there, and some of the poverty I saw looked more like India than the US. Also, an appalling climate.

        1. Velv
          Pirate

          Re: few Chinese workers have volunteered to move to Wisconsin

          "So what you're saying is that Foxconn treats it's Chinese workers like slaves, and presumably wants to treat it's new US workers the same way?"

          From what I've heard working for most American companies is only one step above slavery. For many, "Benefits" is something employees dream of, not taken for granted as we do in Europe. Paid holidays? Health care? Dental? Pension contributions? etc. There are some companies very good to their employees, however your basic American worker puts in long hours for a very basic reward.

          Luck us in Europe have strong policies on workers rights. Oh, wait...

  4. Mayday
    Thumb Down

    Waste dumping

    "And thanks to the land on which the factory is being built being redesignated, the company will be exempted from environmental restrictions and won't be required to get a permit to dump waste into the surrounding wetlands."

    Can't say how much I dislike this. Regardless of how benign the waste would be claimed to be.

    1. Notas Badoff

      Re: Waste dumping

      No, no, they'll just rename the whole effort. Remember when they insisted all those boats in the South China Sea - *all* those boats - were working on reef conservation? Who knew reefs require missiles, artillery, and destroyers for defense?

      No, they'll just insist they're now into marshlands conservation....

      1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
        Coat

        Re: Waste dumping

        We all knew the Chinese government were up to something on those shoals. It was Reefer Madness.

        My coat you say? Why thank you...

      2. Antron Argaiv Silver badge
        Thumb Up

        Re: Waste dumping

        Well, duh!

        Once you carefully "conserve" a reef, you wouldn't want anyone to come by and dump garbage (human or otherwise) on it, after all that work you've done to "make it yours", would you?

        So you need to defend your newly conserved reefs (and, incidentally, all the water between them and you)

        It is, of course, OK, when we (the US) does it...because Democracy and Freedom and stuff.

        Turnabout is only fair play when we're doing the turning-about.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Foxconn doesn't want workers from any shithole countries. The want Quality people from someplace like Norway.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Low and behold

    Trump proves once again he's really in the pocket of the globalist cabal who are determined to see America fail, and pin the blame on "nationalists". Meanwhile China rises by acting in it's national interest under the banner of "communism".

    That money would have been better invested in US R&D to automate manufacturing, so the US can be genuinely competitive at high volume manufacturing.

  7. Mark 85

    Wisconsin?

    And at the salaries they're offering, I don't see many takers. Especially if these really are "knowledge workers" and not worker-bees. This project just seems doomed to fail and those involved will weasel out of taking the blame for it. It'll be kind of hard to blame this on Obama.

    1. Tank boy

      Re: Wisconsin?

      You know for fact that Trump will blame Obama when his idiot supporters get wind of this dumbassery.

    2. elip

      Re: Wisconsin?

      Why "Wisconsin?"? What exactly do you mean by that subject.

      1. Mark 85

        Re: Wisconsin?

        It's where the "new" place will be.

  8. allthegoodnamesweretaken

    Everyone always: OMG! That group of powerful and rich people that run that company/country/political party/religious group/etc have been lying to us this whole time and it turns out they were just screwing us over to get more power and money! This is so unexpected!

  9. The C Man

    Apple = Foxconn = Apple

    Yet another Government and people that is going to be ripped off by Apple (who will claim they tried to bring production to the Homeland) who has the money to fund this whole project out of petty cash. If this whole project falls through Foxconn will sue for every penny they will claim to have invested while, with the potential drop in sales and need for less production, Foxconn would love to escape from this venture.

    1. HausWolf

      Re: Apple = Foxconn = Apple

      You realize Foxconn manufactures for most of the large OEMs and that this has absolutely nothing to do with Apple.

  10. vtcodger Silver badge
    Mushroom

    This may well be entertaining

    Starting up a factory isn't all that easy. And starting up a factory where all the tooling, training materials, instruction manuals, etc are in Chinese in a place where the number of folks who can read Chinese is likely close to zero is probably going to be a lot harder. My initial thought was that of course Foxconn is going to have to bring in folks from the homeland to get things going. And just to make things harder, this whole thing is highly politicized and a lot of the concept seems kind of nuts. There may be some brilliance hidden in all this somewhere, but it's hard to see where.

  11. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    "Return on that investment will . . ."

    never happen, because by 2042 the factory will have been moved to somewhere else where it still won't pay taxes and have a brand-new slot of land to foul up.

    I really don't get how people with governor-level responsibility are apparently incapable of adding two and two and noticing that, once all the deductions, exemptions and special favors have been given, the whole project is just going to end up being a cost center. A million bucks per job as a cost to the state ? I'd say eff off, you pay for your jobs or go cost somebody else.

    1. BebopWeBop

      Re: "Return on that investment will . . ."

      Do you expect much else - they are politicians after all.

      1. FrozenShamrock

        Re: "Return on that investment will . . ."

        Walker, like all politicians, only cared about the short term, specifically getting himself re-elected by touting all the new jobs he brought to the state. The actual long-term cost in dollars and destroyed natural resources lost forever were always irrelevant; by the time that poop hit the fan he would be out of office. Unfortunately for him the stupidity of the deal came to light much too early. Hopefully, there is still time to kill that pig before it sucks up dollars (which could be better spent on infrastructure and public education) and ruins the local environment.

    2. steviebuk Silver badge

      Re: "Return on that investment will . . ."

      I think they can put two and two together but then see $ for themselves so go ahead with it anyway. I think, and hasn't it been said elsewhere, that Trump is probably positioning lots of stuff to make himself lots of money when he's out of the White House.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      It was never going to pay off by 2042

      That number was based on the original $3 billion giveway, not the newer $4.3 billion - and it really is a GIVEAWAY - there are no corporate taxes on manufacturing in Wisconsin, so they are actually writing checks to Foxconn! Trump and Walker were taken for a ride by the Chinese like no one ever has before!

      The other problem is that it is located only 20 miles from Illinois, so some percentage of the workers will be Illinois residents who won't even pay taxes to the state of Wisconsin!

      This is a giant boondoggle, it isn't surprising though that Trump is still crowing about it because he doesn't know or care about any of this. Or know or care what the truth is about much of anything since his followers get their news from mostly fact-free sources like Drudge and Fox.

  12. DavCrav

    "$4.5bn in subsidies"

    "5,200 workers"

    That's $865k per worker.

    "minimum salary of just $30,000"

    The US Government could just pay these 5200 people $30k/year to play computer games at home for 25 years and still be up on the deal.

    1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      The US Government could just pay these 5200 people $30k/year to play computer games at home for 25 years and still be up on the deal

      Not quite. Some of the subsidies are supposed to have gone towards infrastructure and facilities so you need to adjust the figure a bit. It will still be quite a few years of playing Counter-Strike though.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        That "infrastructure and facilities" is over 95% roads and utilities like electric/water, which is only being run to that area because of the factory. So the money is truly wasted, versus spending it on roads where companies that will actually pay taxes might locate.

        Heck, if they would have given a fraction of that money to Harley Davidson, they wouldn't have moved that plant overseas that caused Trump to call for a boycott.

    2. FrozenShamrock

      Especially since a lot of the subsidies will leave Wisconsin and the US to go back home to China while those 5,200 gamers would be buying local pizza.

  13. AIBailey

    4 Million gallons of water per day...

    ... to be rendered unfit for human consumption!!!!

    That's over twice the amount of bottled water consumed across the UK on a daily basis.*

    How can that be considered a political win in any way at all, unless you don't care about the enviro.....

    ...

    ...

    ...

    Oh, as you were.

    * - https://www.statista.com/statistics/283762/bottled-water-consumption-volume-in-the-united-kingdom-uk/ - annual consumption of UK bottled water, then converted to US gallons.

  14. Zippy´s Sausage Factory
    Meh

    I see Scott Walker lost. Wonder what will happen now?

    *opens popcorn, sits back*

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Pretty sure this is all contractual, so the new governor will have no choice but to honor it. However, I'm sure he'll make a big point out of telling voters how they were taken for a ride by Walker and Trump as the bills come due. Trump won Wisconsin by a razor thin margin in 2016 despite the democrats running Hillary, this will easily be enough to cause him to lose the state in 2020 even if the democrats were dumb enough to run Hillary again.

  15. Stevie

    Bah!

    Attention all those indignant c-ards who indignantly put me in my place two weeks ago: Read the bit about the wetlands again, then tell me again how fabbing isn't filthy.

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Re: Bah!

      This isn't a fab, at best it's a PCB assembly plant, at worst it's a big warehouse where they stick "assembled in America" stickers on finished iPhones.

      1. TheRealRoland
        Meh

        Re: Bah!

        So it's a semantic issue about what's being made in this factory, while nature around it still gets polluted. I see another Superfund site for the near future :-)

        People don't understand how important water is, especially in a country as big as the US. Private and community wells are always under threat of seepage, whether it is from ground fills, fracking or oil spills...

        If this water is used for cooling, when it's spat out by the factory, that increases the water temperature around the factory, and will kill life in and around that water.

        But yeah, let's argue about what's the purpose of the factory itself :-)

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

  16. TheRealRoland

    Haha! <nelson laugh>

    Walker got voted out last night. But Wisconsin still stuck with this deal.

    While Trump may not have been at the inception of this deal, he was more than happy to tag along for the political profit he would make.

    A deal too far.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Haha! <nelson laugh>

      As the true scope of how terrible this deal was becomes apparent to Wisconsin voters, I'm sure Trump will attempt to blame that on the democrat governor that succeeds Walker. And his base will no doubt believe that, because they are really are dumb enough that they would continue supporting him even if he shot someone on the Fifth Avenue.

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