Michigan fails to build a semiconductor manufacturing plant, whitmer blames “mass economic uncertainty”
Democrat Gretchen Whitmer said on Wednesday that “mass economic uncertainty” was held responsible after plans to build a semiconductor manufacturing plant in Michigan collapsed.
Taking the company to Michigan was a key goal for Whitmer, a Democrat in his last year as a battlefield governor and has the potential to be the 2028 presidential candidate.
Domestic manufacturing is a priority in President Donald Trump’s second administration, and the president uses tariffs as a way to encourage businesses to build and stay America. Whitmer didn’t mention Trump by name in her remarks, but she pointed her fingers at his tariffs, which regularly shook the economy this year.
“Their board came to this decision amid the national economic turmoil, which risks worsening amid the threat of even higher tariffs,” Whitmer said in a statement.
Whitmer didn’t name the company, but state records show that California-based technology company Sandisk Corp. is considering a vast 1,300-acre site near the city of Flint, which has forecast 9,400 jobs and 5,000 construction jobs.
SanDisk declined to comment Wednesday.
The news quickly elicited a duel of political statements from state Republicans and Democrats.
The Trump administration will use tariffs and other tactics to bring manufacturing back to the US in key areas like semiconductors, White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement in response to Whitmer’s comments.
Desai pointed out the development of new semiconductors Texas and Arizona This year, a victory won by the Trump administration in the chips and technology industry.
Other Democrats quickly attributed Michigan’s losses to Trump’s economic policies on Wednesday.
“Trump’s long-term investment and abandonment of chaotic tariff practices has not only increased costs, but also killed 10,000 good jobs,” Rep. Kristen MacDonald Rivet, a Democrat who represents the area, said in a statement. “This could have been a game-changer for Michigan’s economy.”
Republican Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall said he supports Trump’s strategy of relying on tariffs and incentives in tax and spending bills, bringing manufacturing development to the United States rather than overseas.
“We need state leaders who are focused on making sure Michigan is the perfect place to build and grow,” he said.
Sandisk, known for creating flash drives and memory cards, was considering invading the project in 2025, according to documents provided by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
Michigan provided Sandisk with a $1.925 billion cash grant, $250 million in workforce development funds and a tax credit of approximately $3.76 billion, according to a document dated August 2024.
Congress passed Chips and Science laws that encouraged the development of technology midway through former President Joe Biden’s term. Even as Trump and Republican lawmakers have since threatened to have an end For the Act, the Commerce Department was working with Sandisk to ensure federal incentives through the package.
In a statement, Whitmer said in a May speech that the company was not attempting to build semiconductor facilities anywhere in the United States, and Whitmer said she was directly defending the Trump administration to bring the chip factory into the state.