DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket No. 9-48]
49 FR 10136
March 19, 1984
Foreign-Trade Zone 40, Cleveland, Ohio; Application for Subzone, GM Auto
Plant, Lordstown, Ohio
TEXT: An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board
(the Board) by the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority (Port
Authority), grantee of Foreign-Trade Zone 40, Cleveland, requesting
special-purpose subzone status for General Motors Corporation's (GM)
automobile assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio, adjacent to the Akron
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 March 7, 1984. The applicant is authorized to make this proposal under
Section 4582.06(f) of the Ohio Revised Code.
On September 29, 1978, the Board authorized the Port Authority to
establish a foreign-trade zone in the Cleveland area (Board Order 135,
43 FR 46886, 10/11/78). It was expanded on June 18, 1982 (Board Order
194, 47 FR 27579, 6/25/82). The project currently involves a 600,000
square foot multi-use building in the Cleveland harbor area and an
international exhibition center covering 175 acres adjacent to Cleveland
Hopkins International Airport.
The proposed subzone is located at GM's Lordstown plant, which covers
963 acres at 2300 Hallock-Young Road, adjacent to State Route 45,
Lordstown. The facility, which employs some 8000 workers, produces the
Chevrolet Cavalier and the Pontiac 2000 model automobiles, and Chevrolet/
GMC vans. Although most of the parts and material used at the plant are
produced domestically, some 8 percent of the components are imported,
including engines, transaxles, heat shields, and radios. About 19 percent
of the finished vehicles are exported.
Zone procedures will exempt GM from paying duties on foreign components
used on its exports. On its domestic sales the company will be able to
defer duty and to take advantage of the same duty rate available to
importers of finished autos. The estimated average duty rate on the
foreign components used by GM is 4.2 percent whereas the rate of finished
autos is 2.7 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 offshore.
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,
55 Erieview Plaza, 6th Floor, Cleveland, Ohio 44114; and Colonel Robert
R. Hardiman, District Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District Buffalo,
1776 Niagara St., 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 April 16, 1984.
A copy of the application is available for public inspection at each
of the following locations:
U.S. Dept. of Commerce District Office,
666 Euclid Ave.,
Cleveland, OH 44114
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: March 13, 1984.
John J. Da Porte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 84-7259 Filed 3-16-84; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-25-M