(Cite as: 58 FR 40623)
NOTICES
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
(Docket 32-93)
Foreign-Trade Zone 38--Spartanburg County, SC; Application for Subzone, BMW
Manufacturing Corporation Plant, (autos) Spartanburg County, South Carolina
Thursday, July 29, 1993
An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the
Board) by the South Carolina State Ports Authority, grantee of FTZ 38,
requesting special-purpose subzone status for the automobile manufacturing
plant of the BMW Manufacturing Corporation (BMWMC) (subsidiary of BMW AG,
Germany), located in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. 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 July 19, 1993.
The proposed subzone would be located at the new BMW plant at Interstate
Highway 85 and South Carolina Highway 101, adjacent to the Greenville-
Spartanburg Airport in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, some seven miles
west of Spartanburg. The facility (200 acres, 1.7 million sq. ft.),
currently under construction, will directly employ some 1,900 workers to
produce up to 219,000 compact automobiles (various models) annually,
displacing models that are currently imported from Germany. The application
indicates that foreign- sourced parts and materials may represent up to 50
percent of the finished autos' material value. Foreign subcomponents and
parts to be admitted to the proposed subzone include: Engines and
transmissions (and parts thereof), mirrors, steel mill products, items of
plastic/rubber, wiring harnesses, fasteners, steel springs, bearings,
lamps, and instruments (duty rate range: 3.1-10.0%). The finished autos
would be sold in the U.S. and exported.
Zone procedures would exempt BMWMC from Customs duty payments on the
foreign items used in export production. On domestic sales, the company
would be able to choose the duty rate that applies to finished autos (2.5%)
for the foreign material inputs noted above. The application indicates that
the savings from zone procedures would help improve the plant's
international competitiveness.
In accordance with the Board's regulations, a member of the FTZ Staff has
been appointed examiner to investigate the application and report to the
Board.
Public comment on the application is invited from interested parties.
Submissions (original and three copies) shall be addressed to the Board's
Executive Secretary at the address below. The closing period for their
receipt is September 27, 1993. Rebuttal comments in response to material
submitted during the foregoing period may be submitted during the
subsequent 15-day period (to October 12, 1993).
A copy of the application and the accompanying exhibits will be available
for public inspection at each of the following locations:
Office of the Port Director,
U.S. Customs Service,
150-A West Phillips Road,
Greer, SC 29650.
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
U.S. Department of Commerce, room 3716,
14th Street & Constitutional Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20230.
Dated: July 22, 1993.
Dennis Puccinelli,
Acting Executive Secretary.
(FR Doc. 93-18135 Filed 7-28-93; 8:45 am)
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P