DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket No. 24-89]
54 FR 46638
November 6, 1989
Foreign-Trade Zone 70, Detroit, Michigan; Application for Subzone Alps
Auto Parts Plant, Auburn Hills, MI
TEXT: An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board
(the Board) by the Greater Detroit Foreign-Trade Zone, Inc., grantee of FTZ
70, requesting special-purpose subzone status for the testing and
distribution facility of Alps Electric (USA), Inc., (Alps) (a subsidiary
of Alps Electric Company, Ltd., Japan) located in Auburn Hills, Michigan,
adjacent to the Detroit 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 October 27, 1989.
The Alps facility (10 acres) is located at 1500 Atlantic Boulevard in
Metro North Technology Park, Auburn Hills, Michigan, some 20 miles north
of Detroit. The facility is used for the storage and distribution as well
as testing of electronic components for automobiles, such as electro-
mechanical switches and resistors. Most of the components are shipped to
U.S. auto assembly plants.
Zone procedures would exempt Alps from Customs duty payments on
merchandise that is reexported. On shipments into the Customs territory,
Alps would pay duties at the rate on components (3.1 to 6.0 percent).
Shipments to U.S. auto assembly plants with subzone status would qualify
for the duty rate that applies to autos (2.5 percent), as if the components
had been shipped directly from abroad. The application indicates that
subzone status will help Alps compete with foreign facilities that ship
products directly to U.S. auto subzones.
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, DC 20230; William L.
Morandini, District Director, U.S. Customs Service, North Central Region,
2nd Floor, Patrick V. McNamara Building, 477 Michigan Avenue, Detroit,
Michigan 48226; and Colonel John D. Glass, District Engineer, U.S. Army
Engineer District Detroit, P.O. Box 1027, Detroit, Michigan 48231.
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 December 18,
1989.
A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be available
during this time for public inspection at each of the following locations:
U.S. Department of Commerce,
District Office, Room 565,
1140 McNamara Building,
477 Michigan Avenue,
Detroit, Michigan 48226
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
U.S. Department of Commerce,
14th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Room 2835,
Washington, DC 20230
Dated: October 31, 1989.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 89-26131 Filed 11-3-89; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-M