DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket No. 26-82]
47 FR 50001
November 4, 1982
Foreign-Trade Zone 78, Nashville, Tennessee; Application for a Subzone at
Toshiba Television and Microwave Oven Plant, Lebanon, Tennessee
TEXT: Notice is hereby given that an application has been submitted to the
Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the Board) by the Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson
County Port Authority (the Port Authority), grantee of Foreign-Trade Zone
78, requesting authority for a special-purpose subzone at the television
and microwave oven manufacturing plant of Toshiba America, Inc. in Lebanon,
Tennessee, adjacent to the Nashville 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 October 26, 1982. The applicant is
authorized to make this proposal under Section 7-5-107(6), Tennessee Code
Annotated.
On April 2, 1982, the Board authorized the Port Authority to establish
a foreign-trade zone project in the Nashville port of entry area (Board
Order 190, 47 FR 16191, 4/15/82). The project involves a warehouse site in
downtown Nashville, an industrial park site in the Cockrill Bend area and
a subzone at Nissan's new truck manufacturing plant in Smyrna.
The Port Authority now requests subzone status for Toshiba's color
television and microwave oven manufacturing plant, 1420 Toshiba Drive,
Lebanon, Tennessee. The facility consists of a 315,000 square foot plant
located on a 102 acre site. The primary product line is color televisions
on which production started in 1978. Microwave oven production started in
1981 and is the plant's only other major product line. The production
process for both televisions and microwave ovens involves the finishing and
assembly of a mix of foreign and domestic parts and material.
Zone procedures would allow Toshiba to export finished televisions and
microwave ovens without paying duties on foreign parts and material. Plant
exports now range between 15 and 20 percent and are expected to increase
under zone procedures. On its domestic sales, the company can take
advantage of the same duty rates that are available to importers of the
finished products. The duty rate for televisions is 5 percent, and for
microwave ovens, 4 percent. On the imported television and oven parts used
by Toshiba the weighted average duty rates are 6.5 and 5.6 percent
respectively. The applicant indicates a willingness to accept the same
restriction on foreign color picture tubes as applied to Subzone 14A for
Sanyo Manufacturing Corporation (Board Order 210, 47 FR 44593, October 8,
1982). It is contended that zone procedures will encourage Toshiba to
expand operations in Tennessee rather than abroad, adding up to 350 workers
to the plant's current labor force of 540.
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; G. Scott
Shreve, Acting District Director, U.S. Customs Service, South Central
Region, 423 Canal Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130; and Colonel Lee W.
Tucker, District Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District Nashville, P.O. Box
1070, Nashville, Tennessee 37202.
Comments concerning the proposed subzone 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 December 6, 1982.
A copy of the application is available for public inspection at each of
the following locations:
U.S. Dept. of Commerce Satellite Office,
Room 1024,
Andrew Jackson State Office Building,
Nashville, Tennessee 37219
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
U.S. Department of Commerce,
14th and Constitution Ave., N.W., Room 1519,
Washington, D.C. 20230.
Dated: October 29, 1982.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board.
[FR Doc. 82-30351 Filed 11-3-82; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-25-M