DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket No. 20-82]
47 FR 38568
September 1, 1982
Foreign-Trade Zone 70, Detroit; Application for Subzone in Wayne, Michigan
TEXT: Notice is hereby given that an application has been submitted to the
Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the Board) by the Greater Detroit Foreign-Trade
Zone, Inc. (GDFTZ), a Michigan non-profit corporation and grantee of
Foreign-Trade Zone 70, requesting authority for a special-purpose subzone
at a Ford Motor Corporation auto assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan, within
the Detroit Customs port of entry. 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 20, 1982. The applicant is authorized to make this
proposal under Chapter 447, Act 154, Michigan Public Acts of 1963
(MSA 21.302 (1)).
On July 21, 1981, the Board authorized GDFTZ to establish a foreign-trade
zone project in the Detroit area (Board Order 176, 46 FR 38941, 7-30-81).
General-purpose zone facilities are located at the Clark Street Port
facility in downtown Detroit and at a distribution complex in Dearborn,
which is to be activated soon. GDFTZ also sponsors a subzone at Ford's
tractor plant in Romeo, Michigan, and a subzone at Chrysler's Jefferson
Assembly Plant in Detroit, both of which began using zone procedures during
the past two months.
The applicant now proposes to establish a subzone at Ford's Wayne
Assembly Plant, located at 37625 Michigan Avenue in Wayne. The 141-acre
facility has recently been renovated for the assembly of the company's new
front-wheel drive subcompact cars. Up to 250,000 vehicles can be produced
annually from foreign and domestic components. Foreign parts include
transaxles, wheels, steering gears, and radios.
Zone procedures will allow Ford to export finished autos without paying
duties on foreign parts and material. On its domestic sales, the company
will be able to take advantage of the same duty rate available to importers
of finished automobiles, which is lower than the rate for many components.
This will assist Ford in competing with offshore assembly plants and help
to restore the Wayne Plant to full operation which could add up to 1200
jobs to the current workforce of 3800 persons.
In accordance with the Board's regulations, an examiners committee has
been appointed to investigate the application and report to the Board. The
committee consists of Dennis Puccinelli (Chairman), Foreign-Trade Zones
Staff, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. 20230; Louis A.
Mezzano, District Director, U.S. Customs Service, Region IX, 477 Michigan
Avenue, Detroit, Michigan 48226; and Colonel Raymond T. Beurket, District
Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District Detroit, P.O. Box 1027, Detroit,
Michigan 48231.
Comments concerning the proposed zone expansion are invited in writing
from interested persons and organizations. They should be addressed to the
Board's Executive Secretary at the address below and postmarked on or
before September 30, 1982.
A copy of the application is available for public inspection at each of
the following locations:
U.S. Department of Commerce District Office,
Federal Building, Room 445,
231 West Lafayette Street,
Detroit, Michigan 48226
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
U.S. Department of Commerce,
14th and Pennsylvania, Room 3721,
Washington, D.C. 20230
Dated: August 25, 1982.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board.
[FR Doc. 82-23980 Filed 8-31-82; 8:45 am]