DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket No. 31-86]
51 FR 37617
October 23, 1986
Proposed Foreign-Trade Zone, With Subzone for Cooper Tire Plant, Findlay,
OH; Application and Public Hearing
TEXT: An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board
(the Board) by the Community Development Foundation (CDF), an Ohio non-
profit corporation, requesting authority to establish a general-purpose
foreign-trade zone and a special-purpose subzone for the tire manufacturing
plant of the Cooper Tire and Rubber Company, in Findlay, Ohio, some 45 miles
from the Toledo Customs port of entry. The application was submitted
pursuant to the provisions of the Foreign-Trade Zones Act, as amended (19
USC 81a-81u), and the regulations of the Board (15 CFR Part 400). It was
formally filed on October 7, 1986. The applicant is authorized to make this
proposal under @ 1743.11 of the Ohio Revised Code.
The proposed general-purpose foreign-trade zone would cover 160 acres at
the Findlay Industrial Center located at the intersection of State Route 12
and County Road 95 in Findlay. CDF will select an operator for warehousing
operations. No manufacturing approvals are being sought at this time for
the general-purpose zone. Such requests would be made to the Board on a
case-by-case basis.
The proposed subzone would be located at Cooper Tire's production
facilities in Findlay and at a company warehouse in Moraine, Ohio. The
Findlay plant covers 25 acres at Lima and Western Avenue and employs some
1400 persons. The Moraine facility is a 776,000 square foot warehouse
located at 3601 Dryden Road. Cooper Tire produces tires for auto assembly
plants and the aftermarket. Some 27 percent of the materials used are
sourced abroad, including volkanox, volkacit, steel tire cord, pretreated
polyester, tetramethyl thiuram disulfide, and titanium dioxide.
Zone procedures would allow Cooper Tire to avoid duty payments on the
foreign materials used in its exports. On its domestic sales, the company
would be able to take advantage of the same duty rate available to
importers of tires. The duty rate for tires is 4 percent, whereas the rate
for the imported components range up to 16 percent. Zone savings will help
the company improve its international competitiveness.
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, DC 20230; John
F. Nelson, District Director, U.S. Customs Service, North Central Region,
6th Floor Plaza Nine Bldg., 55 Erieview Plaza, Cleveland, OH 44114; and
Colonel Daniel R. Clark, District Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District
Buffalo, 1776 Niagara St., Buffalo, NY 14207. As part of its investigation,
the examiners committee will hold a public hearing on November 20, 1986,
beginning at 9:00 a.m., in the Findlay City Council Chambers, Rm 114,
Municipal Building, Findlay, Ohio.
Interested parties are invited to present their views at the hearing.
Persons wishing to testify should notify the Board's Executive Secretary
in writing at the address below or by phone (202/377-2862) by November 14.
Instead of an oral presentation, written statements may be submitted in
accordance with the Board's regulations to the examiners committee, care
of the Executive Secretary, at any time from the date of this notice
through December 19, 1986.
A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be available
during this time for public inspection at each of the following locations:
Port Director's Office,
U.S. Customs Service,
234 N. Summit St.,
Toledo, OH 43604
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 1529,
14th and Pennsylvania Ave. NW.,
Washington, DC 20230.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 86-23969 Filed 10-22-86; 8:45 am]
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