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-- 2017 --
July 27: Trump’s Foxconn Wisconsin jobs deal doesn’t hold up under scrutiny ... 3,000 jobs for $3 billion ...
Wisconsin lost 3,776 manufacturing jobs in 2016. Getting back 3,000, if that pans out, seems paltry.
The job pledge dropped from 50,000 when Trump first alluded to it, to 30,000 in early press releases, down to 13,000 in an early announcement on July 26, to 3,000 later in that day.
The state incentive package similarly dropped in press releases from $3 billion in 15 years to $1.5 billion by 2020.
https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/trumps-foxconn-wisconsin-jobs-deal-doesnt-hold-up-under-scrutiny/
-- 2018 --
Undated: Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., trading as Foxconn Technology Group, is a multinational electronics contract manufacturing company with its headquarters in Tucheng, New Taipei, Taiwan. Today, it is the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer[3] and the fourth-largest information technology company by revenue.[4] The company is the largest private employer in Taiwan[5] and one of the largest employers worldwide.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn
April 3: Trump administration targets $50 billion in Chinese electronics, aerospace and machinery goods with tariffs
https://www.washingtonpost.com/
April 4: Trump To Place Tariffs On Chinese Consumer Electronics - Twice
Over 1,300 items targeted
In a statement, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said the action is in response to China’s “unfair trade practices related to the forced transfer of U.S. technology and intellectual property.” The proposed list will undergo further review in a public notice and comment process, including a hearing.
https://www.twice.com/industry/trump-to-place-tariffs-on-chinese-consumer-electronics
April 24: Trump Reportedly Uses Private Cell Phone More Often Amid Kelly’s Waning Influence
“This is potentially a gold mine of intelligence,” James Clapper said.
Trump isn’t the first resident of the White House to have access to a private cell phone. Former President Barack Obama used a Blackberry while in office, but it was outfitted with security measures and specialized encryption. It’s unclear if Trump’s phone has the same protections.
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper called the reports about Trump using a personal cell phone troubling and said that such communications could be targeted by foreign intelligence.
“He may be keeping things from his chief of staff, but he will elicit the interest of foreign intelligence services,” Clapper told CNN’s Don Lemon. “This is potentially a gold mine of intelligence for them. Even if he is using some kind of secure app, there’s all kind of inferential things you can derive from the fact he’s doing that ... even if you don’t get the content.”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-personal-cell-phone_us_5adebcbbe4b0b2e81132a499
May 14: Trump vows to protect electronics jobs in China
As China and the United States go toe-to-toe on trade and maneuver ahead of a historic North Korea meeting next month, an unlikely obstacle has emerged: a second-tier Chinese electronics maker, ZTE.
The company said last week it had halted “major operating activities” after being penalized by the U.S. Department of Commerce. On Sunday morning, President Donald Trump surprised many in Washington when he indicated a willingness to rethink the punishment. In doing so, he also appeared to walk back from brinkmanship that has threatened the United States’ trade talks with China.
In a tweet, Trump said he was working with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to prevent the collapse of the company, which employs 75,000 people.
https://www.bendbulletin.com/business/6236854-151/trump-vows-to-protect-electronics-jobs-in-china
June 14: Powerful forces—including Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R), the Taiwanese manufacturing giant Foxconn, and President Donald Trump—have aligned, to turn more than 1,000 acres of Wisconsin farmland and family homes into an LCD screen manufacturing facility.
To assemble land for the project, local officials have already declared entire neighborhoods to be "blighted," with the goal of seizing homes with eminent domain, a legal term that typically describes the process of taking property from a private owner to facilitate a public use.
But what qualifies as a "public use?" In 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that the Connecticut town of New London was justified in seizing the land of homeowner Susette Kelo to hand it over to the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on the grounds that it would spur economic development in an economically depressed area. The Pfizer project was never built, and the lot where Kelo's house once stood is empty and overgrown 13 years later. Public backlash led 43 states, including Wisconsin, to enact legislation protecting property owners from eminent domain for private projects.
With lawsuits planned, this project may test the strength of Wisconsin's post-Kelo law. Can public officials override the property rights of homeowners in pursuit of big development deals?
https://reason.com/reasontv/2018/06/14/foxconn-mt-pleasant-eminent-domain
June 20: Could Donald Trump’s tariffs be the start of a new world electronics order for China?
For decades, China has been the world’s hi-tech assembly plant but a trade war with the US could put many manufacturers out of business or force them to set up operations elsewhere
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2151261/could-donald-trumps-tariffs-be-start-new-world-electronics-order
June 28: Trump lauds Taiwan's Foxconn, threatens Harley on Wisconsin trip
“As Foxconn has discovered, there is no better place to build, hire and grow than right here in the United States. America is open for business,” Trump said.
Trump also had words for Milwaukee-based motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson Inc (HOG.N), which he has threatened with higher taxes if it moves production for European customers overseas.
“Harley-Davidson, please build those beautiful motorcycles in the USA,” he said. “Don’t get cute with us, don’t get cute.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-foxconn/trump-lauds-taiwans-foxconn-threatens-harley-on-wisconsin-trip-idUSKBN1JO3AU
June 28: '8th Wonder of the World': Trump Speaks in Wisconsin at Foxconn Groundbreaking
The FoxConn factory is slated to open in 2020 and is expected to be massive, meant to produce LCD screens for televisions and computers
https://www.necn.com/news/national-international/trump-visits-wisconsin-foxconn-groundbreaking-486803301.html
June 28: Wisconsin Hopes Foxconn Will Make It A Digital Hub, But Skepticism Abounds
https://www.npr.org/2018/06/28/624099686/wisconsin-hopes-foxconn-will-make-it-a-digital-hub-but-skepticism-abounds
June 28: Foxconn tells the story Trump wants US to hear
When Foxconn breaks ground on Thursday on a $10bn LCD manufacturing complex in Wisconsin, President Donald Trump will be there to claim credit for securing the Taiwanese group’s promise to deliver 13,000 jobs.
https://www.ft.com/content/6264dbac-79fc-11e8-bc55-50daf11b720d
June 28: Environmental groups have criticized the Trump administration’s decision to make much of southeast Wisconsin exempt from the latest federal limits on smog pollution. Those rules would have required Foxconn and other smog-producing factories to install more effective pollution-control equipment, scale back production or make emissions-trading agreements with cleaner facilities. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said last month she plans to file a lawsuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision.
Others raised concerns about the millions of gallons of water the plant could pull from Lake Michigan, though the company has announced plans to invest in technology intended to reduce its water use.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-trump-foxconn-groundbreaking-wisconsin-20180628-story.html
October 3: A nationwide wireless emergency test was sent out Wednesday afternoon, as the Federal Emergency Management Agency conducted its first "presidential alert."
While users can choose not to participate in messages of missing children and natural disasters, they are required to receive presidential alerts, which are sent out at the direction of the White House and activated by FEMA.
Rules outlined in a 2006 law states that the White House can issue a presidential alert only if the public were in peril, or during national emergencies. The alert cannot be a personal message on behalf of the president.
The wireless alert system launched in 2012.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/fema-tests-presidential-alert-to-225-million-electronic-devices
December 4: 100 Million Quora Users Affected By 'Malicious' Data Breach
Just days after Marriott International disclosed a massive cybersecurity breach, Quora has announced that it too has been attacked by hackers. The popular question-and-answer website said Monday that a "malicious third party" may have lifted the account information of some 100 million users.
A massive hack in 2013 likely exposed the personal data of every person who had an account with Yahoo — for a grand total of some 3 billion user accounts.
And though that breach remains the largest ever disclosed, other massive incidents have followed. That includes a breach of Equifax that, according to the credit reporting agency, exposed the sensitive personal information of nearly 150 million people.
Just last week, Marriott revealed that it had learned of a hack affecting about 500 million of its customers worldwide. Attorneys general from several states have already launched investigations into the incident, which appears to have rendered details such as passport numbers vulnerable to third parties.
https://www.npr.org/2018/12/04/673144745/100-million-quora-users-affected-by-malicious-data-breach
December 6: China is demanding the release of telecoms giant Huawei's chief financial officer, who has been detained in Canada.
Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the company's founder, could face extradition to the US.
She was arrested in Vancouver on 1 December, but the news was not made public at her request.
The charges remain unknown but the US has been probing Huawei over possible violation of sanctions against Iran.
China says her detention is possibly a rights abuse.
Ms Meng has sought a publication ban on the details of the arrest, which has been granted by the courts.
Huawei said it was "not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms Meng".
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-46465768
-- 2019 --
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