[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 89 (Wednesday, May 7, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25645-25646]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-10086]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

(Docket 26-2008)


Foreign-Trade Zone 14 -- Little Rock, Arkansas Application for 
Subzone Status Husqvarna Outdoor Products Inc. (Outdoor Power Products 
Manufacturing) Nashville, Arkansas

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, grantee of 
Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) 14, requesting special-purpose subzone status 
for the outdoor power products manufacturing facility of Husqvarna 
Outdoor Products Inc. (Husqvarna) located in Nashville, Arkansas. 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 April 29, 2008.
    The Husqvarna facility is located at 1 Poulan Drive, in Nashville 
(96 acres, 1,400 employees). The facility is used for manufacturing 
various types of gas-powered outdoor products (blowers, trimmers and 
chainsaws, HTSUS numbers 8414.59, 8430.20, 8467.89 and 8467.81). At 
full capacity the Husqvarna facility can produce up to 3.9 million

[[Page 25646]]

units annually. Imported components and raw materials account for 
approximately 35 percent of the value of inputs used in manufacturing. 
Parts and components that may be imported into the proposed subzone for 
manufacturing include: plastic tubes, pipes and hoses (3917.29); 
petroleum oils and oils from bituminous minerals (2710.19); carbides 
(2849.90); lubricating preparations (3403.19); polymides (3908.10); 
plastic monofilament (3916.90); self-adhesive plate, sheet, film, 
foils, tape and strip of plastics ( 3919.90); other plate, sheet, film, 
foil and strip of polymers of styrene (3921.11); plastic articles used 
for packing or conveyance of goods (3923.10, 3923.29, 3923.50, 
3923.90); other plastic articles (3926.90); vulcanized rubber tubes, 
pipes and hoses (4009.11); vulcanized rubber conveyor or transmission 
belts (4010.36, 4010.39); vulcanized rubber washers and seals 
(4016.93); other vulcanized rubber products (4016.99); synthetic twine, 
cordage, rope and cable (5607.50); articles of yarn, strip, twine, 
cordage, rope or cable (5609.50); textile articles and products for 
technical uses (5911.90); labels (6307.90); millstones, grindstones and 
grinding wheels (6804.21, 6804.22); iron or steel flanges (7307.91, 
7307.92); self-tapping screws (7318.14); screws and bolts, with or 
without washers (7318.15); nuts (7318.16); spring washers and lock 
washers (7318.21); non-threaded articles of iron or steel (7318.29); 
iron or steel helical springs (7320.90); tungsten articles/powders 
(8101.10); agriculture, horticulture or forestry hand tools and their 
parts (8201.90); handsaws, blades and their parts (8202.40); files, 
rasps, pliers, pincers, tweezers, pipe and bolt cutters and similar 
(8203.20); hand-operated spanners and wrenches (8204.11); hand tools 
for drilling, threading or tapping (8205.10); screwdrivers and their 
parts (8205.40); anvils, forges and grinding wheels and their parts 
(8205.70); vises, clamps and their parts (8205.70); pressing, stamping 
and punching tools and their parts (8207.30); drilling tools (8207.50, 
8207.90); iron or steel flexible tubing (8307.10); spark-ignition 
internal combustion engine parts (8409.91); fuel, lubricating and 
cooling pumps for internal combustion piston engines and their parts 
(8413.30, 8413.91); air and vacuum pumps and their parts (8414.59, 
8414.90); air filters (8421.31); spray guns (8424.20); tool holders 
(8466.10); check valves and their parts (8481.30); pressure-reducing 
and thermostatically controlled valves (8481.80); ball bearings 
(8482.10); needle roller bearings (8482.40); transmission shafts, 
camshafts and crankshafts and their parts (8483.10); bearing housings/
plain shaft bearings (8483.30); gears and gearing and other 
transmission elements, including torque converters (8483.40); flywheels 
and pulleys, including pulley blocks (8483.50); clutches and shaft 
couplings, including universal joints (8483.60); toothed wheels, chain 
sprockets and other transmission elements (8483.900); universal AC/DC 
motors (8501.20); single-phase AC motors (8501.20); multi-phase AC 
motors (8501.52); AC generators/alternators (8501.61); electrical 
transformers, static convertors, inductors and their parts (8504.33, 
8504.40); electromagnetic couplings, clutches and brakes (8505.20); 
primary cells and batteries (8506.80); lead-acid storage batteries 
(8507.20); spark plugs (8511.10); ignition coils (8511.30); electrical 
ignition or starting equipment parts (8511.90); microphones and 
loudspeakers (8518.30); electrical switches (8536.50); lamp-holders, 
plugs and sockets (8536.69, 8536.90); fluorescent lamps (8539.31); 
microwave tubes (8540.89); winding wire (8544.20); electrical 
conductors (8544.42, 8544.49); Drive and non-drive axles and parts 
thereof (8708.50); trailers and semi-trailers and their parts 
(8716.80); micrometers, calipers and gauges (9017.30); other 
instruments (9017.80); revolution and production counters, taximeters, 
odometers and pedometers (9029.10); and, stroboscopes (9029.20). The 
duty rates on the imported components range from duty-free to 12 
percent.
    This application requests authority for Husqvarna to conduct the 
manufacturing activity under FTZ procedures, which could exempt the 
company from customs duty payments on the imported components used in 
export production. Approximately 30 percent of production is exported. 
On domestic sales, the company could choose the lower duty rate (duty-
free to 2.3 percent) that applies to the finished products for the 
imported components used in manufacturing. Husqvarna may also realize 
savings related to direct delivery and weekly customs entry procedures. 
The company would also realize savings on the elimination of duties on 
materials that become scrap/waste during manufacturing. The application 
indicates that the FTZ-related savings would improve the plant's 
international competitiveness.
    In accordance with the Board's regulations, Christopher Kemp of the 
FTZ staff is 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 listed below. The closing period for their 
receipt is July 7, 2008. Rebuttal comments in response to material 
submitted during the foregoing period may be submitted during the 
subsequent 15-day period (to July 21, 2008).
    A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be 
available at each of the following addresses: U. S. Department of 
Commerce Export Assistance Center, 425 West Capital Avenue, Suite 425, 
Little Rock, Arkansas, 72201; and, Office of the Executive Secretary, 
Foreign-Trade Zones Board, Room 2111, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20230. For further 
information contact Christopher Kemp at [email protected] 
or (202) 482-0862.

    Dated: April 30, 2008.
Andrew McGilvray,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-10086 Filed 5-6-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S