[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 161 (Monday, August 21, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48535-48536]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-13786]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

[Docket 34-2006]


Foreign-Trade Zone 93--Raleigh/Durham, NC; Application for 
Subzone Status; QUALCOMM Incorporated; (Digital Wireless 
Telecommunication Products)

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the Triangle J Council of Governments, grantee of FTZ 
93, requesting special-purpose subzone status for the manufacturing 
facilities of QUALCOMM Incorporated, located in Cary, North Carolina. 
The application was submitted pursuant to the provisions of the 
Foreign-Trade Zones Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 81a-81u), and the 
regulations of the Board (15 CFR part 400). It was formally filed on 
August 15, 2006.
    The QUALCOMM facility (49,442 sq. ft./5 acres/140 employees) is 
located at 2000 CentreGreen Way, Cary, North Carolina. The facility is 
used for research and development, product testing, manufacturing, 
packaging, warehousing and distribution of digital wireless 
telecommunications products. Finished products from the manufacturing 
and kitting operations could include mobile communication terminal 
kits, test telephones and antenna control units (all duty-free). 
Imported parts and components that may initially be imported into the 
proposed subzone for manufacturing and kitting include: Antenna 
assemblies; cable assembly kits; keypads; labels; protectors, cap 
plugs; timing belts; o-rings and gaskets; screws; antenna mountings; 
aluminum tape; steppers; round nylon standoffs; mounting frames; delrin 
spacers; battery packs; receivers with adapters; parts of cellular 
telephony including enhanced display units, keyboards, lens assemblies, 
radome assemblies and filter saws; SIM cards; directional chip 
couplers; inductor chips; dual mode amplifiers; GPS mounting cups and 
cable straps; adhesive rings for GPS cups; self-thread screwlock 
inserts; motor-mounting nut plates; chip inductors; CPA boot codes; GPS 
radome patch antennas; PTC resettable poly-switches; input connector 
receptacles; conn. housing/solder contacts; and, digital ACU cable 
assemblies. Duty rates on these inputs range from duty-free to 8.6 
percent.
    The application also requests authority to include a broad range of 
inputs for other telecommunication products that QUALCOMM may produce 
under FTZ procedures in the future. (New major activity involving these 
inputs/products would require review by the FTZ Board.) The duty rates 
for these inputs and final products range from duty-free to 20 percent. 
FTZ procedures would exempt QUALCOMM from Customs duty payments on 
foreign products that are re-exported. On domestic sales, the company 
would be able to defer duty payments until merchandise is shipped from 
the facility and entered for U.S. consumption, and to choose the duty 
rate that applies to the finished product instead of the rates 
applicable to the foreign input materials. QUALCOMM would be able to 
avoid duty on foreign merchandise which becomes scrap/waste, and the 
company also expects to realize additional savings through the use of 
weekly entry procedures and zone to zone transfers. The application 
indicates that the company will realize certain logistical benefits 
through the simplification and expediting of their import and export 
activity. QUALCOMM believes that all of the above-cited savings from 
FTZ

[[Page 48536]]

procedures would help improve the facility's international 
competitiveness.
    In accordance with the Board's regulations, a member of the FTZ 
staff has been designated examiner to investigate the application and 
report to the Board.
    Public comment is invited from interested parties. Submissions 
(original and 3 copies) shall be addressed to the Board's Executive 
Secretary at the address below. The closing period for their receipt is 
October 20, 2006. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted 
during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-
day period (to November 6, 2006).
    A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be 
available for public inspection at each of the following locations: 
U.S. Department of Commerce Export Assistance Center, 10900 World Trade 
Assistance Center, Suite 110, Raleigh, North Carolina 27617; and, 
Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, Room 
1115, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20230.

    Dated: August 15, 2006.
Andrew McGilvray,
Acting Executive Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E6-13786 Filed 8-18-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P