Trump hails $10 bn investment from Apple supplier Foxconn

Washington : President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled a $10 billion US investment by Apple supplier Foxconn to build a plant in Wisconsin.

The businessman-turned-president made the announcement side by side with the Taiwanese tech giant's CEO Terry Gou, as he tried to show his "America First" economic rhetoric is making a difference.

Trump said the plant -- which will make LCD panels -- will create at least 3,000 jobs in the midwestern state, and was quick to stress he played a role in making the deal happen.

"If I didn't get elected, he would not be spending $10 billion," Trump said, thanking Gou for his "faith and confidence in the future of the American economy."

Foxconn said the plant could eventually bring more than 13,000 new jobs to Wisconsin, with Gou adding it was the first in a series of facilities the company would build in several US states.

"Wisconsin offers a talented, hard-working workforce, and a long track record in advanced manufacturing, all of which presents an extraordinary opportunity," the Taiwanese tycoon said in a statement. 

Manufacturing in the US would allow the company to better serve its customers, which included "iconic" American technology companies, Gou added. 

Trump allies said Gou had spotted an abandoned factory and suggested it be used, and Trump personally met Gou in April to push the deal forward.

Trump has made returning manufacturing jobs to America's heartland a key plank of his domestic policy.