DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket No. 15-87]
52 FR 34398
September 11, 1987
Foreign-Trade Zone 102, St. Louis, Mo; Application for Subzone General
Motors Auto Assembly Plant in Wentzville, Mo
TEXT: An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board
(the Board) by the St. Louis County Port Authority (Port Authority)
requesting special-purpose subzone status for the General Motors Corporation
(GM) auto assembly plant in Wentzville, Missouri, adjacent to the St. Louis
Customs port of entry. The application was submitted pursuant to the
provisions of the Foregin-Trade Zones Act, as amended (19 CFR Part 400). It
was formally filed on September 4, 1987.
The 440-acre GM plant is located at 1500 State Highway "A" in Wentzville,
some 45 miles west of St. Louis. It is used to assemble Oldsmobile and Buick
automobiles, employing 6,350 workers. Most components used at the plant are
of domestic origin. Some 2 percent are sourced aboard, including radios,
radio-cassettes, wire harnesses, instrument panel pads and steering wheels.
Zone procedures will exempt GM from duty payments on the foreign parts it
uses in its exports. On 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. Overall, the average duty rate on the foreign components
used by GM is 4.3 percent compared with the rate for finished autos of 2.5
percent. The savings from subzone status will contribute to the company's
overall cost reduction program, helping its U.S. plants become more
competitive with auto production plants 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 Zone
Staff, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230; Theodore
Galantowicz, District Director, U.S. Customs Service, North Central Region,
7911 Forsyth Blvd. (Suite 625), Clayton, Missouri 63105; and Colonel Daniel
M. Wilson, District Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District St. Louis, 210
Tucker Blvd. North, St. Louis, Missouri 63101-1986.
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
October 23, 1987.
A copy of the application is available for public inspection at each of
the following locations:
U.S. Department of Commerce, District Office,
7911 Forsyth Boulevard, Suite 610,
St. Louis, Missouri 63105
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
U.S. Department of Commerce,
14th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Room 1529,
Washington, DC 20230
Dated: September 4, 1987.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary
[FR Doc. 87-20938 Filed 9-10-87; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-M