DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
FOREIGN-TRADE ZONES BOARD
[Docket No. 46-83]
48 FR 56620
December 22, 1983
Foreign-Trade Zone 29, Louisville, Kentucky; Application for Subzone; Ford
Auto Plant, Louisville
TEXT: An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board
(the Board) by the Louisville and Jefferson County Riverport Authority (the
Port Authority), grantee of Foreign-Trade Zone 29, requesting special-purpose
subzone status for the auto assembly plant of Ford Motor Corporation in
Louisville, Kentucky, within 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 December 4, 1983. The applicant
is authorized to make this proposal under 65.530 of the Kentucky Revised
Statutes.
On May 26, 1977, the Board authorized the Port Authority to establish a
foreign-trade zone project for the Louisville area (Board Order 118, 42 FR
29323, 6/8/77). The project covers 12 acres in an industrial park adjacent
to the port area.
The proposed subzone will be located at the Ford plant, Fern Valley Road
and Grade Lane, Louisville. Employing some 3600 persons, the 180-acre
facility assembles, finishes and tests the Bronco II model passenger
vehicle and the Ranger truck. Although most of the components are purchased
from domestic sources, about 5 percent, including radios and optional
engines and transmissions, come from abroad. Some 10 percent of the
finished vehicles are exported.
Zone procedures will exempt Ford from duty payments on the foreign
components it uses in 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. The average duty rate on the foreign components used at the
Louisville plant is 3.9 percent compared with the 2.8 percent rate for
finished autos. The Customs costs savings will help Ford to improve the
cost-competitiveness of its U.S. plants compared 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 Charles E. Eastburn,
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 21, 1984.
A copy of the application is available for public inspection at each of
the following locations:
U.S. Dept. of Commerce District Office,
Post Office and Courthouse Bldg.,
Room 636B,
Louisville, Ky 40202.
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 16, 1983.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 83-33899 Filed 12-21-83; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-M