Enforcement and Compliance

September 2001:   New FTZ Mailing Address

last update: September 2002

                             DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 
                           FOREIGN-TRADE ZONES BOARD 
 
                                [Order No. 176] 
 
                                  46 FR 38941 
 
                                 July 30, 1981 
 

Resolution and Order Approving the Application of the Greater Detroit Foreign-Trade Zone, Inc., for a Foreign-Trade Zone in the Detroit Metropolitan Area; Proceedings of the Foreign-Trade Zones Board, Washington D.C.

TEXT: Resolution and Order

Pursuant to the authority granted in the Foreign-Trade Zones Act of June 18, 1934, as amended (19 U.S.C. 81a-81u), the Foreign-Trade Zones Board has adopted the following Resolution and Order:

The Board, having considered the matter, hereby orders:

After consideration of the applications of the City of Detroit (Doc. No. 7-80) and of the Greater Detroit Foreign-Trade Zone, Inc. (GDFTZ), a Michigan nonprofit corporation affiliated with the Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce (Doc. No. 8-80), both filed with the Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the Board) on May 14, 1980, and consolidated as a single proposal under the sponsorship of GDFTZ on January 23, 1981 (46 FR 11331, 2-6-81), requesting a grant of authority for establishing, operating, and maintaining a general-purpose foreign-trade zone with sites in Detroit and Dearborn, Michigan, and a special-purpose subzone in Romeo, Michigan, within and adjacent to the Detroit Customs port of entry, the Board finding that the requirements of the Foreign-Trade Zones Act, as amended, and the Board's regulations are satisfied, and that the proposal is in the public interest, approves the application.

As the proposal involves open space on which buildings may be constructed by parties other than the grantee, this approval includes authority to the grantee to permit the erection of such buildings, pursuant to section 400.815 of the Board's regulations, as are necessary to carry out the zone proposal, providing that prior to its granting such permission it shall have the concurrences of the local district director of Customs, the U.S. Army district enginner, when appropriate, and the Board's Executive Secretary. Further, the grantee shall notify the Board's Executive Secretary for approval prior to the commencement of any manufacturing operation within the zone. The Secretary of Commerce, as Chairman and Executive Officer of the Board, is hereby authorized to issue a grant of authority and appropriate Board Order.

Foreign-Trade Zones Board; Washington, D.C.; Grant To Establish, Operate, and Maintain a Foreign-Trade Zone in the Detroit, Michigan, Metropolitan Area

Whereas, by an Act of Congress approved June 18, 1934, an Act "To provide for the establishment, operation, and maintenance of foreign-trade zones in ports of entry of the United States, to expedite and encourage foreign commerce, and for other purposes," as amended (19 U.S.C. 81a-81u) (th Act), the Foreign-Trade

Zones Board (the Board) is authorized and empowered to grant to corporations the privilege of establishing, operating, and maintaining foreign-trade zones in or adjacent to ports of entry under the jurisdiction of the United States;

Whereas, Greater Detroit Foreign-Trade Zone, Inc. (the Grantee), a nonprofit Michigan corporation affiliated with the City of Detroit and the Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce, has made application (separate applications filed on May 14, 1980, were consolidated on January 23, 1981) in due and proper form to the Board, requesting the establishment, operation, and maintenance of a foreign/trade zone in Detroit and Dearborn, Michigan, and a special-purpose subzone for a Ford tractor plant in Romeo, Michighan, within and adjacent to the Detroit Customs port of entry;

Whereas, notice of said application has been given and published, and full opportunity has been afforded all interested parties to be heard; and,

Whereas, the Board has found that the requirements of the Act and the Board's regulations (15 CFR Part 400) are satisfied;

Now, Therefore, the Board hereby grants to the grantee the privilege of establishing, operating, and maintaining a foreign-trade zone, designated on the records of the Board as Zone No. 70 at the location mentioned above and more particularly described on the maps and drawings accompanying the application in Exhibits IX and X, subject to the provisions, conditions, and restrictions of the act and the regulations issued thereunder, to the same extent as though the same were fully set forth herein, and also to the following express conditions and limitations:

Operation of the foreign-trade zone shall be commenced by the Grantee within a reasonable time from the date of issuance of the grant, and prior thereto the Grantee shall obtain all necessary permits from Federal, State, and municipal authorities.

The Grantee shall allow officers and employees of the United States free and unrestricted access to and throughout the foreign-trade zone site in the performance of their official duties.

The Grantee shall notify the Executive Secretary of the Board for approval prior to the commencement of any other manufacturing operations within the zone.

The grant shall not be construed to relieve the Grantee from liability for injury or damage to the person or property of others occasioned by the construction, operation, or maintenance of said zone, and in no event shall the United States be liable therefor.

The grant is further subject to settlement locally by the District Director of Customs and the Army District Engineer with the Grantee regarding compliance with their respective requirements for the protection of the revenue of the United States and the installation of suitable facilities.

In Witness Whereof, the Foreign-Trade Zones Board has caused its name to be signed and its seal to be affixed hereto by its Chairman and Executive Officer at Washington, D.C., this 21st day of July 1981, pursuant to Order of the Board. Foreign-Trade Zones Board.

Malcolm Baldrige,

Chairman and Executive Officer.

Attest:

Lawrence J. Brady,

Acting Executive Secretary. [FR Doc. 81-22213 Filed 7-29-81; 8:45 am]

 FOREIGN-TRADE ZONES BOARD International Trade Administration AGENCY: International Trade Administration Department of Commerce. 46 FR 38942 July 30, 1981 Certain Scissors and Shears From Brazil; Preliminary Results of Administrative Review of Countervailing Duty Order ACTION: Notice of preliminary results of administrative review of countervailing duty order. SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce has conducted an administrative review of the countervailing duty order on certain scissors and shears from Brazil. The review is based upon information for the period March 1, 1979, through February 29, 1980. As a result of this review, the Department has preliminarily determined the amount of the net subsidy to be 3.5 percent of the f.o.b. invoice price of the merchandise. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results. EFFECTIVE DATE: July 30, 1981. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edward F. Haley, Office of Compliance, Room 2803, International Trade Administration, U.S Department of Commerce, Washington, D. C. 20230 (202-377-1767). TEXT: SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On February 11, 1977, a notice of "Countervailing Duties -- Certain Scissors and Shears from Brazil," T.D. 77-64, was published in the Federal Register (42 FR 8634). The notice stated that the Department of the Treasury had determined that exports of such merchandise benefitted from bounties or grants within the meaning of section 303 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1303) ("the Tariff Act"). Accordingly, imports into the United States of this merchandise were subject to countervailing duties. On January 1, 1980, the provisions of title I of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 became effective. On January 2, 1980, the authority for administering the countervailing duty law was transferred from the Department of the Treasury to the Department of Commerce ("the Department"). On January 4, 1980, T.D. 80-13 was published in the Federal Register (45 FR 1013) announcing the suspension of liquidation of all entries, or withdrawals from warehouse, for consumption of this merchandise exported from Brazil on or after December 7, 1979. The Department published in the Federal Register of May 13, 1980 (45 FR 31455) a notice of intent to conduct administrative reviews of all outstanding countervailing duty orders. As required by section 751 of the Tariff Act, the Department has conducted an administrative review of the order on certain scissors and shears from Brazil. Scope of the Review Imports covered by this review are scissors and shears valued at more than $1.75 per dozen imported directly or indirectly from Brazil. These imports are currently classifiable under items 650.90 and 650.92 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States. There are two known exporters of this merchandise to the United States. This review is based on information from one of these exporters, ZIVI S.A.-Cutelaria, which represented approximately 85% of Brazilian exports, for the period March 1, 1979, through February 29, 1980. The review is limited to the benefits received by ZIVI under programs for preferential financing for exports and income tax exemptions for export earnings. Programs overrebating the Industrial Products Tax (IPI) and the Goods Circulation Tax (ICM), found countervailable in the order, were eliminated by December 7, 1979. Analysis of Programs (1) Working capial financing at rates lower than those commercially available. Under this program companies are declared eligible to receive working capital loans by CACEX (the Department of Foreign Commerce of the Banco Central do Brasil), with the loans having a duration of up to one year. Firms producing scissors and shears can obtain preferential financing for up to 30 percent of the value of each firm's previous year's exports. The commercial rate paid for the acquisition of short-term working capital is the rate established by the Banco do Brasil for discounting sales of accounts receivable. Although we are comparing the terms of a loan with the terms of a sale of an asset, we have used this comparison because information provided by the Government of Brazil indicates that, within the Brazilian financial system, working capital is normally raised through the sale of accounts receivable. During the review period ZIVI contracted for all of its loans at preferential discount rates provided for under Resolution 515 of the Banco Central do Brasil. The preferential discount rate available under this resolution was 8.0 percent, with an effective annual rate of 8.7 percent. The commercial rate for acquiring working capital during the period in which loans were granted was 22.7 percent, plus a 2.4 percent tax on financial transactions. Loans under the preferential financing program were exempt from this tax. Thus, the total difference between the commercial rate and the preferential rate was 16.4 percent. On December 7, 1979, Resolution 583 revised the method of calculating discount rates for preferential financing of exports. The effect of this resolution and its successors in 1980 (resolutions 602 and 641) was to reduce benefits to exporters under the preferential financing program; however, because ZIVI did not contract for loans under resolution 583 during the period of review, these changes had no impact on this review. The amount saved divided by total export revenue produced a benefit under this program for the period of March 1, 1979, through February 29, 1980, of 2.0 percent ad valorem. There has been an increase in benefits under Resolution 674, effective January 22, 1981. This resolution established a fixed interest (rather than discount) rate of 40 percent, with interest payable semi-annually and the principal fully payable on the due date of the loan. The effective rate of interest for those loans is 44 percent. The comparable rate for discounting sales of accounts receivable is now 59.6 percent, plus a 6.9 percent tax on financial transactions from which preferential loans remain exempt. Based upon the most current information available, we have estimated a potential benefit under this program of 6.8 percent ad valorem on future entries. (2) Income tax exemption for export earnings. Under this program the percentage of profit attributable to export revenues is exempt from income tax. To arrive at this percentage, export revenue is divided by total revenue. Because the Brazilian Government counts IPI credits as revenue for tax purposes, the amount of IPI credits earned during 1979 is incorporated into both export and total revenue figures. Despite the elimination of IPI credits on December 7, 1979, all such credits earned prior to that date were counted among export and total revenue for ZIVI's 1979 tax year. This procedure inflated export revenue as a percentage of total revenue and, consequently, raised the percentage of income exempt from income taxes. ZIVI made a profit and thus was able to utilize this benefit. The net benefit of the income tax exemption program was 1.5 percent ad valorem for the period March 1, 1979, through February 29, 1980, and is the amount we estimate to be the potential benefit on future entries. Verification Department officials verified the information used to research this prelimianry determination by examining Government and company documents and through discussions with officials of the Government of Brazil. Documents examined include official announcements (resolutions) of Government programs, company financial statements and income tax returns, and loan applications and certificates of eligibility for preferential loans received by ZIVI. Preliminary Results of the Review As a result of our calculations, we preliminarily determine that the aggregate net subsidy conferred by the Government of Brazil on the export of certain scissors and shears was 3. 5 percent of the f.o.b. invoice price. The Department intends to instruct the Customs Service to assess countervailing duties of 3.5 percent of the f.o.b. invoice price on all unliquidated entries of certain scissors and shears exported from Brazil during the period December 7, 1979, through February 29, 1980. All unliquidated entries exported from Brazil before December 7, 1979 shall be liquidated according to instructions in Federal Register notices dated February 26, 1980 (45 FR 12413), September 28, 1979 (44 FR 55825), July 3, 1979 (44 FR 38839), and June 21, 1977 (42 FR 31449). Further, as required by section 751(a)(1) of the Tariff Act, a cash deposit of estimated countervailing duties of 8.3 percent of the f.o.b. invoice price shall be required on all shipments entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of the final results of the present review. This requirement shall remain in effect until publication of the final results of the next administrative review. Pending publication of the final results of the present review, a deposit of estimated duties of 2.5 percent of the f.o.b. invoice price shall continue to be required on each entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for consumption of this merchandise, and liquidation shall continue to be suspended. Interested parties may submit written comments on or before August 31, 1981 and may request disclosure and/or a hearing on or before August 14, 1981. Any request for an administrative protective order must be made on or before August 4, 1981. The Department will publish the final results of this administrative review, including the results of its analysis of any such comments or hearing. This administrative review and notice are in accordance with section 751(a)(1) of the Tariff Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(a)(1)) and section 355.41 of the Commerce Regulations (19 CFR 355.41). Gary N. Horlick, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance. July 27, 1981. [FR Doc. 81-22211 Filed 7-29-81; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510-25-M  FOREIGN-TRADE ZONES BOARD International Trade Administration AGENCY: International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce. 46 FR 38944 July 30, 1981 Cotton Yarn From Brazil; Preliminary Results of Administrative Review of Countervailing Duty Order ACTION: Notice of preliminary results of administrative review of countervailing duty order. SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce has conducted an administrative review of the countervailing duty order on cotton yarn from Brazil. The review is based upon information for the period October 1, 1979, through December 31, 1980. As a result of this review, the Department has preliminarily determined that, although there were no shipments of the U.S. during a review period, there exists a potential net subidy on future entries of 9 percent of the f.o.b. invoice price of the merchandise. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results. EFFECTIVE DATE: July 30, 1981. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edward F. Haley, Office of Compliance, Room 2803, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. 20230 (202-377-1767). TEXT: SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 15, 1977, a notice of "Countervailing Duties -- Cotton Yarn from Brazil," T.D. 77-87, was published in the Federal Register (42 FR 14089). The notice stated that the Department of the Treasury had determined that exports of such merchandise benefitted from bounties or grants within the meaning of section 303 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1303) ("the Tariff Act"). Accordingly, imports into the United States of this merchandise were subject to countervailing duties. On Januaray 1, 1980, the provisions of title I of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 became effective. On January 2, 1980, the authority for administering the countervailing duty law was transferred from the Department of the Treasury to the Department of Commerce ("the Department"). On January 4, 1980, T.D. 80-13 was published in the Federal Register (45 FR 1013) announcing the suspension of liquidation of all entries, or withdrawals from warehouse, for consumption of this merchandise exported from Brazil on or after December 7, 1979. The Department published in the Federal Register of May 13, 1980 (45 FR 31455), a notice of intent to conduct administrative reviews of all outstanding countervailing duty orders. As required by section 751 of the Tariff Act, the Department has conducted an administrative review of the order on cotton yarn from Brazil. Scope of the Review Imports covered by this review are cotton yarn imported directly or indirectly from Brazil. This merchandise is currently classifiable under items 300.60 through 302.98 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States. This review is based on information for the period October 1, 1979, through December 31, 1980. The review is limited to benefits which were available under programs for preferential financing for exports and income tax exemptions for export earnings. Programs overrebating the Industrial Product Tax (IPI) and the Goods Circulation Tax (ICM), found countervailable in the order, were eliminated by December 7, 1979, and have no impact on this review. Analysis of Programs (1) Working capital financing at rates lower than those commercially available. Under this program, CACEX (the Department of Foreign Commerce of the Banco Central do Brasil) declares companies eligible to receive working capital loans having a duration of up to one year. Firms producing cotton yarn were able to obtain preferential financing for up to 40 percent of the value of each firms's previous year's exports. The commercial rate paid for the acquisition of short-term working capital is the rate established by the Banco do Brasil for discounting sales of accounts receivable. Although we are comparing the terms of a loan with the terms of a sale of an asset, we have used this comparison because information provided by the Government of Brazil indicates that, within the Brazilian financial system, working capital is normally raised through the sale of accounts receivable. During the review period, loans to cotton yarn exporters were available under several Brazilian Government resolutions at preferential interest rates; however, we have not calculated actual benefits under these resolutions because there were no exports to the United States. The Brazilian Government increased potential benefits by promulgating Resolution 674, effective January 22, 1981. This resolution established a fixed interest rate of 40 percent, with interest paid semi-annually and the principal fully payable on the due date of the loan. The effective rate of interest for these loans is 44 percent. The comparable rate commercially available is 59.6 percent, plus a 6.9 percent tax on financial transactions from which preferential loans are exempt. Based upon the most current information available, we have estimated a potential benefit under this program of 9 percent ad valorem on future entries. (2) Income tax exemption for export earnings. Under this program the percentage of profit attributable to export revenues is exempt from income tax. Normally, to arrive at this percentage, export revenue is divided by total revenue, with any IPI credits earned incorporated into both revenue figures. Because there were no shipments to the United States and no information available on Brazilian producers which exported to countries other than the U.S., it was not possible to calculate potential benefits under this program for future entries. Preliminary Results of the Review As a result of our review, we preliminarily determine that there were no shipments and, therefore, no subsidies conferred by the Government of Brazil on the export of cotton yarn to the United States during the period December 7, 1979, through December 31, 1980. The Department intends to instruct the Customs Service to liquidate all unliquidated entries exported from Brazil before December 7, 1979 according to instructions in Federal Register notices dated February 26, 1980 (45 FR 12413), September 28, 1979 (44 FR 55825), July 3, 1979 (44 FR 38839), June 21, 1977 (42 FR 31449), and March 15, 1977 (42 FR 14089). Further, as required by section 751(a)(1) of the Tariff Act, a cash deposit of estimated countervailing duties of 9 percent of the f.o.b. invoice price shall be required on all shipments entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of the final results of the present review. This deposit requirement shall remain in effect until publication of the final results of the next administrative review. Pending publication of the final results of the present review, a deposit of estimated duties of 2.5 percent of the f.o.b. invoice price shall continue to be required on each entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for consumption of this merchandise, and liquidation shall continue to be suspended. Interested parties may submit written comments on these preliminary results on or before August 31, 1981 and may request disclosure and/or a hearing on or before August 14, 1981. Any request for an administrative protective order must be made on or before August 4, 1981. The Department will publish the final results of this administrative review, including the results of its analysis of any such comments or hearing. This administrative review and notice are in accordance with section 751(a)(1) of the Tariff Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(a)(1)) and section 355.41 of the Commerce Regulations (19 CFR 355.41). Gary N. Horlick, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance. July 27, 1981. [FR Doc. 81-22212 Filed 7-29-81; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510-25-M