DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket No. 4-84]
49 FR 6395
February 21, 1984
Proposed Foreign-Trade Zone -- Jefferson County, New York; Application for
Subzone at New York Air Brake Plant in Watertown
TEXT: An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board
(the Board) by Jefferson County, New York, requesting special-purpose
subzone status for the manufacturing plant of New York Air Brake Company
in Watertown, New York, adjacent to the Alexandria Bay 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
February 10, 1984. The applicant is authorized to make this proposal under
Chapter 157, Laws of New York 1983.
Jefferson County already has an application pending with the Board for
a general-purpose foreign-trade zone which was filed on January 4, 1984
(Docket No. 2-84, 49 FR 1260, 1/10/84). A public hearing was held on the
proposal in Watertown on February 9. Board action is expected later this
year.
New York Air Brake is a unit of General Signal Corporation, a producer
of a variety of rail system and industrial machinery components with
annual sales of over $1 billion. New York Air Brake produces rail car
braking systems; aircraft hydraulic and engine starting systems; and
mobile equipment transmissions. The plant is shared by a affiliate, the
Dynapower Company, which produces some of the components. The companies'
headquarters and manufacturing facilities are located in Watertown, New
York.
The proposed subzone will cover 120 acres of the companies' 273-acre
facility on Starbuck Avenue in Watertown. In addition to manufacturing the
pneumatic and hydralic equipment described above, the plant is also used
to service and repair the equipment that has been sold abroad, and to
inventory spare parts. Parts purchased from foreign sources for production
include iron castings, discs, brakes, and brake beams. A variety of spare
parts for railroad car brakes are also purchased from abroad. The foreign
components represent about 4 percent of the companies' sales. Exports,
which accounted for about 17 percent of sales in 1983, are expected to
approach 30 percent by 1986.
Zone procedures will exempt New York Air Brake from duty payments on the
foreign parts used in its exports and on equipment returned to the plant
from abroad for service and repair. On domestic sales, secondary savings
would come from exemption from duties on scrap and from duty deferral.
Because many of the finished products have the same duty rates as the
components, benefits from inverted tariffs will be relatively small. These
savings, especially on export sales, will help the company in bidding
against its foreign competitors and achieving its planned growth in
international sales. This will help maintain the 1,400 jobs currently at
the facility and encourage the company to add up to 100 new positions.
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; Edward A. Goggin, Assistant Regional Commissioner, U.S. Customs
Service, Northeast Region, 100 Summer Street, Boston, MA 02110; and
Colonel Robert R. Hardiman, District Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District
Buffalo, 1776 Niagara Street, Buffalo, NY 14207.
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 March 20, 1984.
A copy of the application is available for public inspection at each of
the following locations:
Port Director's Office,
U.S. Customs Service,
Wellesley Island,
Alexandria Bay, NY 13604.
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: February 14, 1984.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 84-4562 Filed 2-17-84; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-M