DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket No. 44-83]
48 FR 55889
December 16, 1983
Foreign-Trade Zone 72, Indianapolis, Indiana; Application for Subzone,
General Motors Plant (Delco Div.), Kokomo
TEXT: An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board
(the Board) by the Indianapolis Airport Authority, grantee of Foreign-Trade
Zone 72, requesting special-purpose subzone status for the auto electronics
manufacturing plant of General Motors Corporation's (GM) Delco Electronics
Division, located in Kokomo, Indiana, adjacent to the Indianapolis 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
December 1, 1983. The applicant is authorized to make this proposal under
Indiana Code 3-10-3-2.
On September 28 1981, the Board authorized the Airport Authority to
establish a foreign-trade zone in the Indianapolis area (Board Order 179,
46 FR 50091, 10/9/18). The project involves 15 acres and an air cargo
building at the Indianapolis International Airport.
The proposed subzone will involve GM-Delco's primary manufacturing
facility covering 221 acres at three locations in Kokomo: (1) The Home
Avenue Plant at Home Avenue and Firmin Street; (2) the North Plant at
Speaker and Washington Street; and (3) the By-Pass Plant at U.S. 31 By-Pass
and East Boulevard. The facility employs some 9,000 persons and produces
automobile radios, tape players, speakers, engine control components and
semiconductor devices. Some 35 percent of the radio components and 7
percent of the engine control parts are purchased from foreign sources.
Some 19 percent of the plant's output is exported directly, with much of
the remainder going to the company's U.S. assembly plants, which in turn
export about 7 percent of their products.
Zone procedures will allow GM to export the finished products without
paying duties on the foreign parts and material. On the products used in
the domestic assembly of automobiles, GM can take advantage of the same
duty rate that is available to importers of finished automobiles. The
average duty rate on foreign parts used by the Delco facility is estimated
to be 7.0 percent whereas the rate for finished autos is 2.8 percent. The
reduction of Customs costs is part of GM's overall program to modernize and
reduce costs at its U.S. assembly plants, making them more competitive with
auto assembly facilities abroad.
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; John F. Nelson,
District Director, U.S. Customs Service, North Central Region, 6th Floor,
55 Erieview Plaza, Cleveland, OH 44114; and Colonel Dwayne G. Lee, District
Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District Louisville, P.O. Box 59, Louisville,
KY 40201.
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 January 18, 1984.
A copy of the application is available for public inspection at each of
the following locations:
U.S. Dept. of Commerce District Office,
357 Federal Building/Courthouse,
46 East Ohio Street,
Indianapolis 46204
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 1872,
14th and Pennsylvania, NW.,
Washington, D.C. 20230
Dated: December 12, 1983.
John D. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 83-33475 Filed 12-15-83; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-25-M