DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket No. 18-80]
45 FR 81636
December 11, 1980
Foreign-Trade Zone No. 41, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Application for Expansion
of Existing General-Purpose Zone and Establishment of Subzones
TEXT: Notice is hereby given that an application has been submitted to the
Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the Board) by the Foreign-Trade Zone of
Wisconsin, Ltd. (WFTZ), a Wisconsin corporation and grantee of Foreign-
Trade Zone No. 41, requesting authority to expand its general-purpose zone
in the Northwestern Industrial Park in Milwaukee to include three
additional sites, and to establish special-purpose subzones in Kenosha and
Manitowoc, Wisconsin, within the Racine and Manitowoc Customs ports of
entry. The application was submitted pursuant to the provisions of the
Foreign-Trade Zones Act of 1934, as amended (19 U.S.C. 81a-81u), and the
regulations of the Board (15 CFR Part 400). It was formally filed on
November 25, 1980. Foreign-Trade Zone of Wisconsin, Ltd. was established
in 1977 as Foreign-Trade Zone of Greater Milwaukee, Inc. under Chapter
180 of the Wisconsin Statutes for the purpose of establishing and
operating a foreign-trade zone. The corporation changed its name to its
current one on December 5, 1979. It is authorized to make this proposal
under Chapter 110 of the Wisconsin Laws of 1977, approved October 13, 1977.
Zone No. 41 was authorized by the Board on September 29, 1978 (Board
Order 136) as a warehouse/distribution and assembly facility on a 5.8-acre
site within the 650-acre Northwestern Industrial Park, owned by the City
of Milwaukee. The grantee constructed a 47,000 square foot warehouse on
the site and activated the zone in late 1979.
The application requests authority for the expansion of Zone No. 41 to
include three parcels of 6, 11, and 23 acres within the industrial park.
The 6-acre site, located at 8501 W. Tower, adjacent to the approved site,
is owned and occupied by H. Barkow, Inc. Barkow customizes truck and
industrial vehicle chassis by adding special cabs, racks, boxes, lifts
and other equipment to suit customers' specific needs. The company
purchases domestic and imported chassis and domestic fabricated steel,
finishes and assembles the steel parts, and attaches the assembled
equipment to the chassis. A portion of the finished vehicles are
expected to be exported from, the zone.
The 11-acre site, located at W. Calumet and N. 81st Streets, will
contain the operations of Schmidt Engineering and Equipment Co., Ltd., a
subsidiary of Ing. Alfred Schmidt GMBH of West Germany. Schmidt plans to
use the zone to assemble utility vehicles for snow removal, weed cutting,
hoisting and excavation through use of interchangable attachments. The
company expects to import Mercedes truck chassis through J. I. Case,
import the attachment components for the equipment from its parent
company in Germany, and assemble the equipment. Schmidt proposes to
export a portion of the finished products. The zone site is owned by the
city and will be leased to Schmidt.
The 23-acre site, located on West Bradley Rd. between 86th and 87th
Streets, has been designated for expansion, since the existing 5.8-acre
general-purpose site cannot accommodate the number of firms currently
considering use of the zone. The site will be activated as needed.
The special-purpose subzone in Kenosha would be for the American Motors
Corporation (AMC) assembly plant. It will consist of four sites: the main
plant at 5626 -- 26th Avenue, Kenosha; the Lakefront Plant, 5th Avenue and
57th Street; the automotive shipping headquarters on 60th Street; and the
Motor Transport Garage, at highways 158 and 192. The four sites operate
as one integrated assembly facility known as the AMC Kenosha plant. They
constitute all the property owned by AMC in Kenosha. Beginning in 1982 AMC
plans to use the plant to assemble Renault automobiles from imported and
domestically-produced components, gradually increasing its use of domestic
parts.
The special-purpose subzone in Manitowoc would be for the operations of
Muskegon Piston Ring Company, Inc., Wausau Division, located at 2318 Waldo
Blvd., Muskegon, Wisconsin. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Goetze A.G. of West Germany. The Manitowoc facility consists of a single
building purchased from the Oil-Rite Corporation. Muskegon is planning to
use this plant to machine circular iron castings into piston rings through
grinding, turning, milling and coating operations. Because of materials
not commercially available in the U.S., some of the castings will be
imported. The company expects to export about one-third of the finished
products.
In accordance with the Board's regulations, an examiners committee has
been appointed to investigate the application and report thereon to the
Board. The committee consists of Ben L. Irvin (Chairman), Deputy Director,
Office of Compliance, Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce,
Washington, D.C. 20230; W. David Stevens, District Director, U.S. Customs
Service, 628 East Michigan Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202; and Lt.
Colonel Howard N. Nicholas, District Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer
District Chicago, 219 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois 53202.
As part of its investigation, the Examiners Committee will hold a
public hearing on January 8, 1981, beginning at 9:00 a.m., at the
Milwaukee Area Technical College, Technical Building Auditorium, 1101
North 6th Street, Milwaukee. The purpose of the hearing is to help
inform interested persons about the proposal, to provide an opportunity
for their expression of views, and to obtain information useful to the
examiners.
Interested parties are invited to present their views at the hearing.
They should notify the Board's Executive Secretary of their desire to
be heard in writing at the address below or by phone (202/377-2862) by
January 2, 1981. Instead of an oral presentation, written statements
may be submitted in accordance with the Board's regulations to the
examiners committee, care of the Executive Secretary at any time from
the date of this notice through February 6, 1981. Evidence submitted
during the post-hearing period is not desired unless it is clearly shown
that the matter is new and material and that there are good reasons why
it could not be presented at the hearing. A copy of the application and
accompanying exhibits will be available during this time for public
inspection at each of the following locations:
U.S. Department of Commerce District Office,
Federal Building, U.S. Courthouse,
517 East Wisconsin Ave., Room 606,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202.
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 2006,
14th and Constitution Ave., N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20230.
Dated: December 5, 1980.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 80-38384 Filed 12-10-80; 8:45 am]