On January 13, 2017 Patently Apple posted a report tiled "Foxconn Plan Close to Completion for a Massive U.S. Plant in the U.S. to Make LCD Displays and More." We also did a follow-up report on January 22 titled "Foxconn Reiterates their Plan for a U.S Plant," for more background to the story. Today we're learning that Japanese display maker Sharp Corp may start building a $7 billion plant in the United States in the first half of 2017, taking the lead on a project initially outlined by its Taiwanese parent Foxconn.

A new Reuters report today notes that "A decision by Foxconn to give Sharp the lead would come as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prepares to travel to the United States to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, who in his inauguration speech vowed to put 'America first.'

In a package Tokyo hopes will please Trump, Abe will unveil investments to create as many as 700,000 U.S. jobs.

Although Reuters sources have confirmed some details of the plan, officially a spokesman for Sharp said that no decision on building a plant had been made as of yet. Yes, upstaging the Prime Minister would be most rude and dangerous to one's career.

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