DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket No. 15-83]
48 FR 22604
May 19, 1983
Foreign-Trade Zone 43, Battle Creek, MI and Foreign-Trade Zone 29,
Louisville, KY; Joint Application for Subzone Status for Clark Equipment
Company
TEXT: An application has been jointly submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones
Board (the Board) by the BC/CAL/KAL Inland Port Authority of South Central
Michigan Development Corporation, on behalf of the City of Battle Creek,
grantee of Foreign-Trade Zone 43, and the Louisville and Jefferson County
Port Authority, grantee of Foreign-Trade Zone 29, requesting special-
purpose subzone status for the forklift truck manufacturing and
distribution facilities of Clark Equipment Company in Springfield and
Oshtemo, Michigan, adjacent toi the Battle Creek Customs port of entry,
and in Georgetown, Kentucky, some 65 miles from the Louisville 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 May
12, 1983. The applicants are authorized to make this proposal under Act
154 of the Public Acts of 1963, State of Michigan, and Chapter 65.530(b)
of the Kentucky Revised Statutes, respectively.
The project involves Clark's three U.S. facilities engaged in the
manufacture and distribution of industrial forklift trucks under 5 tons.
The Battle Creek plant covers 194 acres at 525 N. 24th Street, Springfield,
Michigan, and produces lift-mast assemblies. Finished products are prepared
for export at the 23-acre Oshtemo facility at 6677 Beatrice Drive, Oshtemo,
Michigan. The Georgetown plant, which covers 97 acres at Delaplain Road
and I-75, Georgetown, Kentucky, is Clark's forklift truck production and
final assemble operation.
The three plants are part of an integrated production and distribution
process. A variety of components, such as engines, tires, pumps, valves,
controls, and steel are purchased for the plants from foreign and domestic
sources.
Zone procedures will exempt Clark from Customs duties on foreign parts
it uses in its exports, which could account for up to 75 percent of
production by 1986. On its domestic sales, the company would be able to
take advantage of the same duty rates that are available to importers of
finished forklifts. The duty rates on most forklift components range from
2.0 to 7.5 percent, whereas the rate for complete forklifts is 2.3 percent.
These savings are an important element in Clark's recent decision,
following a corporate study, to inprove the cost-effectiveness of its
domestic facilities so that they regain their competitive relationship to
the company's overseas manufacturing operations. By continuing production
in the U.S., Clark could save some 3,700 job.
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: John J. Da Ponte, Jr. (Chairman), Director,
Foreign-Trade Zones Staff, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C.
20230; Richard D. Rudin, Program Analyst (Inspection & Control), U.S.
Customs Service, North Central Region, 55 E. Monroe Street, Chicago, IL
60603; Colonel Raymond T. Beurket, Jr., District Engineer, U.S. Army
Engineer District Detroit, P.O. Box 1027, Detroit, MI 48231; and Colonel
Charles E. Eastburn, District Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District
Louisville, P.O. Box 59, Louisville, KY 40201.
Comments concerning proposed subzone status for the Clark plants 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 June 20, 1983.
A copy of the application is available for public inspection at each of
the following locations:
Port Director's Office,
U. S. Customs Service,
4950 W. Dickman Road,
Battle Creek, MI 49016
U.S. Dept. of Commerce District Office,
Room 636 B,
Post Office and Court House Building,
Louisville, KY 40202
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
U.S. Department of Commerce,
14th & Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Room 1872,
Washington, D.C. 20230.
Dated: May 16, 1983.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 83-13486 Filed 5-18-83; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-25-M