DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket No. 9-82]
47 FR 10612
March 11, 1982
Foreign-Trade Subzone 46B, Union County, Ohio; Application for Expansion
TEXT: Notice is hereby given that an application has been submitted to the
Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the Board) by the Greater Cincinnati Foreign-
Trade Zone, Inc., a non-profit Ohio corporation, and grantee of Foreign-
Trade Subzone 46B, requesting authority to expand the subzone to include
an adjacent site for automobile manufacturing operations. 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 March 1, 1982. The applicant is
authorized to make this proposal under @ 1743.11 of the Ohio Revised Code.
On January 12, 1979, the GCFTZ received authority from the Board to
establish a foreign-trade zone project with public facilities in the
Cincinnati port of entry area and subzone facilities in the Columbus,
Ohio, port of entry area at the motorcycle assembly plant of Honda of
America Manufacturing, Inc. (Board Order 141, 44 FR 4003, 1/19/79). The
Honda subzone covers 214 acres on route 33 near Marysville in Union
County, Ohio. Motorcycle assembly operations began in September 1979 and
zone procedures were initiated the following March. The facility provides
employment for over 500 persons.
The applicant now requests subzone status for an additional 650 acres,
immediately adjacent to the motorcycle plant, for Honda's automobile
manufacturing and assembly operations, scheduled to begin in late 1982.
Operations will involve stamping, welding, painting, plastic injection
molding and assembly of automobiles and related parts. The company plans
to purchase over 50 percent of the material and parts from domestic
sources, including items such as tires, batteries, glass, interior parts,
and steel for body parts and exhaust systems. At full production the
plant would produce 10,000 cars per month, employing 2,500 persons.
Zone procedures will allow Honda to avoid duty and drawback procedures
on its exports. On its domestic sales, the company will be able to take
advantage of the same duty rate available to importers of finished autos
which is currently 2.9 percent ad valorem. The average duty rate for
components is estimated to be about 4.0 percent. Honda has indicated that
its experience with the benefits from zone procedures at the motorcycle
plant was an important factor in its decision to locate the auto plant in
the U.S.
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; Donald
L. Cavanaugh, District Director, U.S. Customs Service, Region IX, 55
Erieview Plaza, Plaza 9 Building, Cleveland, Ohio 44114; and Colonel James
H. Higman, District Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District Huntington, P.O.
Box 2127, Huntington, West Virginia 25721.
Comments concerning the proposed subzone expansion are invited in
writing from interested persons and organizations. Submissions shall
include 12 copies. They should be addressed to the Board's Executive
Secretary at the address below and postmarked on or before April 5, 1982.
A copy of the application is available for public inspection at each of
the following locations:
Port Director's Office,
U.S. Customs Service, Region IX,
85 Marconi Boulevard,
234 New Federal Office Building,
Columbus, Ohio 43214
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 3721,
14th and Constitution, N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20230.
Dated: March 5, 1982.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 82-6570 Filed 3-10-82; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-25-M