A major jobs deal President Trump has touted with the former Wisconsin governor, Scott Walker, now looks uncertain: Foxconn, a supplier for Apple and other technology firms, says it’s scrapping plans to build a giant factory in Wisconsin, opting to hire American engineers and researchers instead of a promised fleet of blue-collar workers.
‘‘In Wisconsin we’re not building a factory,’’ Louis Woo, special assistant to Foxconn chief executive Terry Gou, told Reuters. ‘‘You can’t use a factory to view our Wisconsin investment.’’
The Taiwanese technology juggernaut initially pledged in 2017 to construct a $10 billion liquid-crystal display panel plant and create up to 13,000 jobs in the state’s southeastern corner over the next 15 years. The positions would pay an average annual wage of $53,000, the firm said — a solid salary in the manufacturing realm.
In exchange, Wisconsin agreed to give Foxconn at least $3 billion in state tax credits and breaks, according to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, a public-private agency that helped negotiate the package. The deal drew criticism at the time after it emerged that Wisconsin would not make money for 25 years.
Under the contract, however, Wisconsin would cancel some payouts if Foxconn did not stick to its word.
State officials on Wednesday said Foxconn will not qualify for tax incentives until the company meets its job creation and facility investment targets.
‘‘WEDC’s performance-based contract with Foxconn provides the company the flexibility to make these business decisions, and at the same time, protects Wisconsin’s taxpayers,’’ said Kelly Lietz, vice president of marketing at the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation in a statement.
She added: ‘‘Foxconn’s long-term success both globally and within Wisconsin is centered around the alignment of its business model with ever-changing global economic conditions, including evolving customer demands.’’
Foxconn and the White House did not immediately respond Wednesday to requests for comment.
Democratic Representative Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, who asked the US Government Accountability Office in November to investigate the Foxconn deal and other enormous state subsidy packages, said Wisconsin has already poured cash into new roads, campus construction, and paying families who lived on the tentative factory site to move. He declined to name a figure.
‘‘These companies play communities against each other to get the very best deal at the expense of the taxpayer, and they don’t live up to the deal they promised,’’ Pocan said.
Trump celebrated the deal in the East Room of the White House in 2017 and attended a groundbreaking ceremony last summer in Racine County.
‘‘I would see Terry, and I would say, ‘Terry, you have to give us one of these massive places you do great work with. The American worker will not let you down,’ ’’ Trump said two years ago in front of news cameras.
Woo, the Foxconn official, told reporters the firm wasn’t sure how to proceed in Wisconsin, citing the high cost of assembling TV screens in the United States.
‘‘In terms of TV, we have no place in the US,’’ Woo said. ‘‘We can’t compete.’’
The comments reflect a sharp reversal in a plan Walker and state officials had said would transform Wisconsin.
Foxconn has a history of retracting its hiring announcements.
