Governor Asa Hutchinson worked to exempt tariffs on a Chinese firm, undermining President Trump’s administration. In July, Gov. Hutchinson announced that the imposed tariffs would not affect the Chinese firm, which has been planning to build a paper mill in Arkansas.
Arkansas worked to remove tariffs from Shandong Sun Paper, located in Arkadelphia. The tariffs would have come in just over $150 million.
Incentivized by millions of federal and state tax benefits to build in Arkansas, Shandong Sun Paper has been planning this facility since 2016. Sun Paper has intentions to invest $1.8 billion into Arkansas to create 250 jobs.
To prepare the site, Arkansas has pledged $12.5 million. In addition, Shandong Sun Paper will be refunded of all state and local sales taxes on purchases of material and equipment for the plant, which could culminate in the millions as reported by the Arkansas Times.
Other pledged costs from Arkansas include $3 million for worker training, a loaned $50 million to build fixed assets, $22.9 million for the construction of a water treatment plant necessary for the paper mill’s production, the construction of a landfill in Clark County, as well as 5 percent of payroll for 10 years which equals $9 million at full employment.
