[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 149 (Friday, August 3, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Page 43232]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-3831]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

[Docket No. 29-2007]


Foreign-Trade Zone 158--Vicksburg/Jackson, MS; Request for 
Manufacturing Authority H.M. Richards, Inc. (Upholstered Furniture)

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by Greater Mississippi Foreign-Trade Zone, Inc., grantee of 
FTZ 158, pursuant to Section 400.28(a)(2) of the Board's regulations 
(15 CFR Part 400), requesting authority on behalf of H.M. Richards, 
Inc. (Richards) (a subsidiary of Rooms To Go, Inc.), to manufacture 
upholstered furniture and related parts under FTZ procedures within FTZ 
158. It was formally filed on July 26, 2007.
    The Richards facility (800 employees) is located at 414 Road 2790 
within the Harry A. Martin North Lee Industrial Complex (Site 15) in 
Guntown, Mississippi. The facility is used to produce upholstered 
furniture (up to 400,000 sofas, chairs, and recliners annually) and 
cut-and-sewn upholstery covers for the U.S. market and export. The 
application proposes that Richards would utilize foreign-origin 
``micro-denier suede'' fabric to be cut and sewn into furniture 
upholstery covers under FTZ procedures. The finished upholstery covers 
(HTSUS 9401.90; duty free) would then be assembled into finished 
chairs, seats, sofas, and recliners manufactured by Richards at its 
Guntown plant.
    The proposed scope of authority under FTZ procedures would only 
involve duty savings on foreign-origin, micro-denier suede fabrics 
(classified under HTSUS Headings 5407, 5512, 5515, 5516, 5903, 5906, 
6001, 6005, 6006; duty rate range: 2.7-17.2%) finished with a caustic 
soda wash process, which the applicant indicates are not produced by 
U.S. mills. The application indicates that Richards does not seek FTZ 
benefits on any of the other foreign fabrics used in production at the 
facility (i.e., full duties would be paid on all such fabrics). All 
other material inputs used in production would be domestic-status.
    FTZ procedures would exempt Richards from customs duty payments on 
the foreign micro-denier suede fabric used in export production. On 
micro-denier suede fabric used in production for the U.S. market, the 
company could elect the finished upholstery cover (i.e., furniture 
part) duty rate (free) after the fabric has been cut, sewn, and formed 
into upholstery covers, at which time they are entered for consumption 
from the zone. Richards would also have the option to elect the 
finished furniture duty rate (free) for the subject fabric when the 
finished furniture is entered for domestic consumption. The application 
indicates that the savings from FTZ procedures will help improve the 
facility's international competitiveness.
    Public comment is invited from interested parties. Submissions 
(original and 3 copies) shall be addressed to the Board's Executive 
Secretary at the following address: Office of the Executive Secretary, 
Room 2111, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20230-0002. The closing period for receipt of comments 
is October 2, 2007. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted 
during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-
day period to October 17, 2007.
    A copy of the application will be available for public inspection 
at each of the following locations: U.S. Department of Commerce Export 
Assistance Center, Suite 255, 175 East Capitol Street, Jackson, 
Mississippi 39201; and, at the Office of the Foreign-Trade Zones 
Board's Executive Secretary at the address listed above. For further 
information, contact Pierre Duy, examiner, at: [email protected], 
or (202) 482-1378.

    Dated: July 27, 2007.
Andrew McGilvray,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 07-3831 Filed 8-2-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-05-M