DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket No. 3-87]
52 FR 9514
March 25, 1987
Foreign-Trade Zone 20 -- Suffolk, VA Norfolk-Newport News Customs Port of
Entry, Application for Subzone, Stihl Chain Saw and Power Tool Plant,
Virginia Beach
TEXT: An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board
(the Board) by the Virginia Port Authority, grantee of Foreign-Trade Zone
20, requesting special-purpose subzone status for the chain saw and power
tool manufacturing plant of Stihl Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia, adjacent
to the Norfolk-Newport News 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 27, 1987.
The Stihl plant, which employees 400 persons, is located at 536 Viking
Drive, Virginia Beach. The 44-acre facility is currently used to produce
small and mid-sized chain saws and hand-held blowers, and the company plans
to expand production to include brush cutters/trimmers. About 50 percent of
its parts are presently sourced abroad, including chain, guidebars,
castings, crankshafts, fasteners, rod, wire, bearings, hoses, metal covers,
engine parts and pump parts; but, the company has a program underway to
increase its domestic sourcing. Stihl imports large chain saws and heavy-
duty cutters from an affiliate in West Germany. Over one-third of the
finished products made at the Virginia Plant are exported.
Zone procedures will allow Stihl to avoid Customs duty payments on the
foreign parts used for its export production. On its domestic sales, the
company will be able to take advantage of the same duty rate that is
available to importers of complete chain saws, blowers and brushcutters,
which is 2.8 percent. The average duty rate on the foreign parts and
material used at the plant is 4.5 percent. The savings will help the
company improve its international competitiveness and expand its Virginia
operations.
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, Foreign-Trade Zones Staff, U.S.
Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230; Howard Cooperman, Deputy
Assistant Regional Commissioner, U.S. Customs Service, Southeast Region,
99 SE 5th St., Miami. FL 33131; and Colonel Claude D. Boyd III, District
Engineer, U.S. Army District Norfolk, 803 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510.
Comments concerning the proposed subzone are invited in writing from
interested parties. They should be addressed to the Board's Executive
Secretary at the address below and postmarked on or before April 30, 1987.
A copy of the application is available for public inspection at each of
the following locations:
Port Director's Office,
U.S. Customs Service,
101 E. Main St.,
Norfolk, VA 23510
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
U.S. Department of Commerce, Rm 1529,
14th and Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20230.
Dated: March 20, 1987.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 87-6482 Filed 3-24-87; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-M