CHICAGO, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Tech giant Foxconn said it is looking for "flexibility" within its existing contract with the U.S. state of Wisconsin for an LCD screen factory project worth 10 billion U.S. dollars, according to a letter sent by Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers.
According to a report of the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday, Evers said in a letter to Louis Woo, special assistant to Foxconn chairman and CEO Terry Gou, that it is Foxconn that is seeking to modify the state's contract and not Evers.
Under the original deal, Foxconn can receive about 3 billion dollars in state tax credits if it employs 13,000 people and spends about 10 billion dollars on a display screen manufacturing campus near Racine, in southeastern Wisconsin.
With local incentives, the value of the deal to Foxconn exceeds 4 billion dollars, the largest government subsidy to a foreign corporation in U.S. history.
Evers said for the first time last week that the state was renegotiating the deal with Foxconn. That led Republican legislative leaders to accuse Evers of attempting to undermine it.
Evers was also under Republican fire when when he told reporters last week he didn't expect Foxconn to bring the 13,000 jobs to Wisconsin as it builds its first U.S. manufacturing facility.
In a statement responding to Evers' letter late Tuesday night, Foxconn said the Taiwan-based company came to his administration with "several changes" it wanted to make to the contract.
Foxconn said it has engaged in "routine" and "good faith" discussions with the Evers administration "within the existing agreement to ensure the company and our workforce will be positioned for long-term success."
Foxconn reiterated that it remains committed to its long-term plan of hiring 13,000 workers and investing 10 billion dollars in the state.
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