Make In America: Apple Supplier Foxconn Setting Up Plant In Wisconsin, Report Says

President Donald Trump visited Waukesha County Technical College, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Wednesday, and indicated that a manufacturer might set up a plant in the state. “Just backstage, we were negotiating with a major, major incredible manufacturer of phones and computers and televisions and I think they’re going to give the governor a very happy surprise very soon,” he said.

Read: Foxconn $7B US-Based Smartphone Display Manufacturing Plant In The Works?

The Associated Press, citing an unnamed source, said Wednesday the company Trump spoke about was Foxconn, Apple’s large supplier, and assembler. Apart from Apple, it also manufactures and assembles smartphones for companies such as Blackberry and Sony.

"It would be great for Wisconsin for a lot of reasons. I am assuming Foxconn was attracted by the fact there’s already a skilled workforce here, and there’s a foundation to produce more such workers through the tech colleges and the other parts of the education system," Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council said on the development.

Rep. Joel Kleefisch (R-Wisconsin) told the Wisconsin State Journal, Wednesday, he would “jump at the chance” of working with the Walker administration to pass economic development incentives necessary to help Foxconn set up a plant in the state.

This is not the first time the news about Foxconn setting up operations in the U.S. has emerged. Apple had said that it would consider moving iPhone production, at least partially, to the states. At the time, Apple suppliers such as Foxconn and Pegatron had raised concerns about supply chain management of the kind which exists in China.

In January, Foxconn had announced it was considering investing $7 billion in a U.S. factory which would produce display panels and create around 50,000 jobs. It seems that the company has been in talks with many U.S. states for the past few months regarding setting up its operations in the U.S.

Apart from Wisconsin, Michigan state is also in talks with Foxconn. According to the Wisconsin State Journal, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is pressuring state lawmakers to approve tax incentives for large-scale businesses. Michigan Senator Arlan Meekhof said, to support incentives and lure Foxconn to set up a plant in the state, ”we should put our best foot forward so that we don't lose all of it or part of it to a neighboring state.”

According to MacRumors, Pennsylvania also might be one of the possible locations for the plant.

Read: Apple Jobs In America: Manufacturing iPhones In U.S. Is Uncertain Foxconn Chairman Says

Both Apple and Foxconn have been trying to set up operations outside China, due to the rising labor costs in the country. Apart from the U.S., Apple has also been rumored to set up operations in India to produce budget iPhones that will cater to the needs of the local market.

It remains to be seen, how smartphone production in the U.S. would fare, especially since the operations would require skilled and trained labor. Most importantly, the cost of producing devices in the U.S. requires an affordable price range for companies such as Foxconn.