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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket 67-96]


Foreign-Trade Zone 29--Louisville, KY; Application for Subzone
Status: Ascent Power Technology Corporation, Inc., Facilities (Electric
Power Supplies/Electronic Fluorescent Lighting Ballasts) Campton,
Kentucky

An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the Board) by the Louisville and Jefferson County Riverport Authority, grantee of FTZ 29, requesting special-purpose subzone status for the manufacturing facilities (electric power supplies and electronic fluorescent lighting ballasts) of Ascent Power Technology Corporation, Inc. (APTCI), located in Campton, Kentucky. 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 27, 1996.

The proposed subzone would consist of APTCI's manufacturing/ warehousing facilities located on four parcels in the Campton (Wolfe County) area, some 50 miles southeast of Lexington, Kentucky: Parcel 1 (32,000 sq.ft. on 4 acres)manufacturing facility, 760 South Kentucky Route 15, one-half mile south of downtown Campton; Parcel 2 (7,000 sq.ft.)--administrative facility, 780 South Kentucky Route 15, adjacent to Parcel 1; Parcel 3 (8,000 sq.ft.)--warehouse, 85 Elkins Road, adjacent to Kentucky Route 15; and Parcel 4 (5,800 sq.ft.)--warehouse, 430 South Washington Street (at G Road) in Campton. The facilities (300 employees) are used to produce electric switch mode power supplies (HTS# 8471.80.40, 8504.40.60) and electronic fluorescent lighting ballasts (HTS# 8504.10) for export and the domestic market. The power supplies are sold to manufacturers of electronic office products (e.g., computer printers, typewriters) and medical, aerospace, military, and industrial equipment. The ballasts are sold to fluorescent lighting equipment manufacturers. The production process involves assembly, testing, and warehousing. Components purchased from abroad (about 90% of total, by value) include: copper wire, capacitors, resistors, diodes, semiconductors, printed and integrated circuits, switches, fuses, insulators, voltage limiters, surge suppressors, transformers, rectifiers, inductors, thermostats, flux, solder bars, other articles of iron and steel (HTS# 7326) and labels (duty rate range: free--14.3%, 7 cents/kg).

Zone procedures would exempt APTCI from Customs duty payments on the foreign components used in the export production. On its domestic sales, the company would be able to choose the duty rates that apply to finished power supplies (duty free) and electronic lighting ballasts (3.0%) for the foreign inputs noted above. The application indicates that subzone status would help improve the facilities' 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 on the application is invited from interested parties. Submissions (original and three copies) shall be addressed to the Board's Executive Secretary at the address below. The closing period for their receipt is November 12, 1996. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-day period (to November 25, 1996).

A copy of the application and the accompanying exhibits will be available for public inspection at each of the following locations:

U.S. Export Assistance Center, Room 634B, 601 W. Broadway, Louisville, KY 40202 Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 3716, 14th Street & Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230-0002.

Dated: August 28, 1996. John J. Da Ponte, Jr., Executive Secretary. [FR Doc. 96-23112 Filed 9-10-96; 8:45 am]