
Foxconn Still Trying to Tap Dance Around Its Ever-Shrinking Wisconsin Promises - microwavecamera
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190513/07332042196/foxconn-still-trying-to-tap-dance-around-ever-shrinking-wisconsin-promises.shtml
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dpau
There's a wonderful Reply All episode from December 2018 that covers the
dramatic origin story, featuring lots of colorful small-town politics and an
explanation of the bait & switch tactics commonly used by Foxconn:

[https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-
all/wbhjwd/132-negative-...](https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-
all/wbhjwd/132-negative-mount-pleasant)

It's a good listen even now, now that this story has played out the way it
has..

~~~
rahuldottech
Yes! Can't recommend this episode enough.

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CydeWeys
What even was the point of all this? Money wasn't given outright to Foxconn in
large quantities, right? There was little reason for them to just lie about
their intents while not planning on following through on any of it. That
doesn't really help them out either.

Wisconsin got played really badly, but I don't understand what even Foxconn is
getting out of it at this point. Did they just change their mind and decide it
wasn't worth building a factory there at all, but for whatever reason just
won't come out and cancel it all?

~~~
moorhosj
That they have done the same thing in Pennsylvania [1] and Brazil [2] implies
there is a deeper reason.

[1] [https://www.pennlive.com/nation-
world/2017/03/how_foxconns_b...](https://www.pennlive.com/nation-
world/2017/03/how_foxconns_broken_pledges_in.html)

[2] [https://www.zdnet.com/article/foxconn-set-to-discontinue-
bra...](https://www.zdnet.com/article/foxconn-set-to-discontinue-brazil-
manufacturing-operations/)

~~~
CydeWeys
Does anyone know what the reason might be?

~~~
jayalpha
Well, Brazil has crazy labor laws. You see a worker in court? The worker will
win.

In the end it was not worth it for Foxcon. And I think a terrible outcome for
Brazil. Electronics are absurdly expensive there (Think import tax 1, import
tax 2, import tax 3 and in the end taxes on the import taxes. No kidding).

Stuff is often three times the price of western prices. At least in the past.
It was common for people to ask you to sell them you used Laptop/iPhone/mp3
player.

~~~
moorhosj
All of that was true when they initially agreed to the deal, so I’m not sure
that explains it.

~~~
jayalpha
[https://www.zdnet.com/article/foxconn-set-to-discontinue-
bra...](https://www.zdnet.com/article/foxconn-set-to-discontinue-brazil-
manufacturing-operations/)

"However, the promises soon proved hard to keep: the company wanted the
Brazilian government to come up with 30 percent of the cash, as well as a
private investor - both failed to materialize. "

"As well as the economic instability that the Brazilian economy, it is also
rumored that other factors influencing the decision include the productivity
of the local workforce - which at its peak reached about 2,500 workers - which
Foxconn considers to be low when compared to its main manufacturing
operations. "

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ianhawes
> [State House Minority Leader Gordon Hintz] believes Foxconn is trying to
> slow-walk the project until 2020, continuing to use it to win Trump’s
> goodwill in the trade war and waiting to see who’s elected.[1]

[1] [https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/10/18296793/foxconn-
wisconsi...](https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/10/18296793/foxconn-wisconsin-
location-factory-innovation-centers-technology-hub-no-news)

------
tssva
The point was to give Scott Walker and Wisconsin Republicans a boost in their
efforts to hold on to the Governor's office and control of the legislature.
The facade of the factory coming only had to last as long as the fall
election.

In return Foxconn curried favor with President Trump, who tied himself to the
factory coming, and the political party in control of both house of Congress
at the time.

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jccalhoun
This is mostly just a rehash of The Verge's original reporting.
[https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/13/18565408/foxconn-
wisconsi...](https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/13/18565408/foxconn-wisconsin-
innovation-centers-factories-empty-tax-subsidy) (which is linked to in the
techdirt "article."

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robertAngst
I know most people don't want government to be run with these 'back scratch'
promises and corruption-

But those who advocate for more taxation, how do you stop this kind of
corruption?

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mikeash
How do you stop it with less taxation?

~~~
haneefmubarak
Not the parent, but I think their general idea is that you can't give a tax
break if there's no tax to give a break on.

~~~
mikeash
Sure, but there’s a big difference between less tax and no tax. You can still
give tax breaks when taxes are lower.

~~~
haneefmubarak
So the whole less taxes less corruption thing isn't my argument, but I think
they meant less taxes as in the number of different taxes you can give breaks
from, not the total percentage burden.

~~~
mikeash
The potential for tax breaks ultimately depends on the total amount you’d
potentially pay. (Edit: even this isn’t the limit. Nothing says you can’t give
companies more than they pay.) How it’s divided up doesn’t really matter.

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sct202
I know a guy who had been offered a job at one of the facilities, but they
kept delaying and delaying the start date for months. There's been a lot of
local politicians talking about how and the deal was and undoing it so it
could be that Foxconn doesn't want to deal with dumping even more money into
an area with political instability. Like, they did go thru the hassle to build
a giant empty building so what would even be the point of doing that?

