Tesla's Megapack production authorization at three California sites came through after five months, and it lasts one year
The list runs to twenty items.
That is what Tesla told the Foreign-Trade Zones Board it wanted to bring into three California sites in foreign status, and the Board has now decided that no further review of the activity is warranted at this time. Fremont, Livermore and Lathrop sit inside Subzone 18G. The finished products named in the notification are inverters, Megapack storage batteries, and vehicle bi-directional static converters. The company filed on 11 February. The applicant was notified on 30 July.
The authorization is not open-ended. The Board says the production activity described in the notification was authorized on a limited basis, subject to the Foreign-Trade Zones Act and the Board's regulations including section 400.14, and further subject to a one-year time period.
The components
The materials and components Tesla listed are where the operation becomes legible.
They include lithium-ion battery modules, printed circuit board assemblies for both the inverter and the bi-directional static converter, transformer cores, heatsinks, pyrotechnic disconnects, inductor assemblies, aluminum electromagnetic shields, silicone gap pads, copper brackets, polyurethane pads, and steel fasteners and screws specified by size. The duty rate on that list ranges from duty-free to 6.20 percent. On the finished products it ranges from duty-free to 3.40 percent.
The privileged foreign status catch
The earlier notice carries the qualification that matters most, and it was published in March rather than this week.
Certain of the materials and components are subject to duties under section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, or section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, depending on country of origin. Where those apply, the decisions require the merchandise to be admitted to a foreign-trade zone in privileged foreign status under 19 CFR 146.41. That locks the classification and the rate at admission.
Neither notice gives a dollar value, a volume, or a headcount. Neither explains the one-year limit.
