DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[Docket 17-96]
Foreign-Trade Zone 119--Minneapolis, MN; Application for Subzone
Status; Plastic Products Company, Inc., Facilities (Plastic In-Line
Skates); Lindstrom and Princeton, Minnesota
An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board
(the Board) by the Greater Metropolitan Area Foreign Trade Zone
Commission, grantee of FTZ 119, requesting special-purpose subzone
status for the plastic in-line skate manufacturing facilities of
Plastic Products Company, Inc. (PPCI), located in Lindstrom and
Princeton, Minnesota. 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 29, 1996.
The proposed subzone would consist of PPCI's two manufacturing
facilities in east-central Minnesota: Site 1 (102,000 sq.ft./6 acres)--
30355 Akerson Street, Lindstrom (Chisago County), Minnesota; and, Site
2 (168,000 sq.ft./8 acres)--610 Old South Highway 18, Princeton (Mille
Lacs County), Minnesota. The facilities (350 employees) are used to
produce plastic in-line skates for export and the
domestic market. The production process involves injection molding and
final assembly. Components purchased from abroad (about 50% of total,
by value) include: textile and vinyl liners (parts of footwear),
footbeds, fasteners, bearings, laces, wheels and wheel/bearing
assemblies, buckle assemblies, strap assemblies (duty rate range:
free--10.6%).
Zone procedures would exempt PPCI from Customs duty payments on the
foreign components used in the export production. On its domestic
sales, the company would be able to choose the duty rate that applies
to finished in-line skates (duty free) for the foreign inputs noted
above. The application indicates that subzone status would help improve
the plants' international competitiveness.
In accordance with the Board's regulations, a member of the FTZ
Staff has been designated 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 May 10, 1996. Rebuttal comments in response
to material submitted during the foregoing period may be submitted
during the subsequent 15-day period (to May 28, 1996).
A copy of the application and the accompanying exhibits will be
available for public inspection at each of the following locations:
U.S. Department of Commerce, District Office, 108 Federal Building, 110
South 4th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55401
Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, U.S.
Department of Commerce, Room 3716, 14th Street & Pennsylvania Avenue,
NW., Washington, DC 20230-0002.
Dated: March 1, 1996.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-5600 Filed 3-8-96; 8:45 am]