Foreign-Trade Zones Board
(Docket 31-93)
Foreign-Trade Zone 120, Cowlitz County, WA; Application for Subzone, Sharp
Microelectronics Technology, Inc., Plant (Liquid Crystal Displays), Camas, WA
Thursday, July 2,1993 An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade
Zones Board (the Board) by the Cowlitz Economic Development Council,
grantee of FTZ 120 (in cooperation with the Port of Portland and the Port of
Kalama), requesting special-purpose subzone status for the liquid crystal
display (passive matrix) manufacturing plant Sharp Microelectronics
Technology, Inc. (SMT), subsidiary of Sharp Corporation of Japan) in Camas
(Clark County), Washington, adjacent to the Portland, Oregon, Customs port
of entry.
The application has been 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 July 9, 1993. SMT's
facility (120 acres) is located at 5700 NW Pacific Rim Boulevard, Camas,
Washington, 10 miles northeast of Portland, Oregon. The facility is used to
manufacture and repair passive matrix liquid crystal displays (LCDs). The
application requests authority for existing and planned LCD manufacturing
capacity (total: 160,000 sq. ft.; 300 employees). Foreign components
currently account for 60 percent of the value of the displays. Specific
items sourced from broad include liquid crystal display glass, large-scale
flexible integrated circuits, printed wiring boards, plastic or metal
display bezels, backlight assemblies (containing a chassis, a cold cathode
fluorescent tube, reflector material and associated parts), jumpers,
solder, flux, protective sheets, tape, plastic trays, and inner packaging.
Zone
procedures would exempt SMT from Customs duty payments on foreign
components used in production for export. On domestic sales, the company
would be able to choose the duty rate that applies to the finished product.
LCDs such as those produced at the Camas plant have been classified as
duty-free, but recent Customs rulings indicate that certain LCDs may be
subject to duty rates ranging from 3.7 to 9 percent. The duty rates on
foreign components range from duty-free to 9 percent. SMT currently is
able to import certain unassembled LCD kits duty-free, under the Customs
entireties provision. The kits are comprised of the main LCD components,
all sourced abroad: LCD glass, jumpers, integrated circuits and printed
wiring boards. The application indicates that zone procedures will improve
the plant's international competitiveness and will encourage domestic
sourcing by allowing SMT to continue to qualify for the same finished
product duty rate as is currently available under the Customs entireties
provision, but with the flexibility to source key components domestically.
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
September 20, 1993. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted
during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-day
period (to October 5, 1993). 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 District Office,
One World Trade Center, Suite 242,
121 S.W. Salmon St.,
Portland, Oregon 97204.
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
Department of Commerce, Room 3716,
14th & Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20230.
Dated: July 14, 1993.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
(FR Doc. 93-17458 Filed 7-21-93; 8:45 am)