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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Foreign-Trade Zones Board [Docket 6-96] Foreign-Trade Zone 14--Little Rock, AR Application for Subzone; Cedar Chemical Corporation (Agricultural and Specialty Chemicals) West Helena, ARAn application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the Board) by the Little Rock Port Authority on behalf of the State of Arkansas Department of Industrial Development, grantee of FTZ 14, requesting special-purpose subzone status for the agricultural and specialty chemical manufacturing facility of Cedar Chemical Corporation (Cedar) (wholly-owned subsidiary of Trans-Resources, Inc.), in West Helena, Arkansas. 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 January 19, 1996.
The Cedar plant (48 acres) is located within the Helena/West Helena Industrial Park at Hwy. 242 South, West Helena (Phillips County), Arkansas, some 120 miles east of Little Rock. The facility is used to produce agricultural chemicals, chemicals for the pharmaceutical industry and other specialty chemical products. A substantial portion of the plant's activity involves contract manufacturing. The main products currently manufactured at the plant are Diuron Technical and Linuron Technical bulk herbicides and Trometamol, a pH buffering agent for pharmaceutical and industrial applications and a custom- manufactured herbicide intermediate for a global agricultural chemical producer. Some 50 percent of the Cedar-brand products are exported.
Zone procedures would exempt Cedar from Customs duty payments on foreign materials used in production for export. On domestic shipments, the company or its customers (operating under zone procedures) would be able to choose the duty rates that apply to the finished products instead of the duty-rates that would otherwise apply to the foreign- sourced materials. The HTSUS category and duty rates for the final products and associated inputs are as follows:
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Final product/input HTSUS No. Duty rate
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DIURON TECHNICAL/3,4-dichlorophenyl isocyanate. 2924.21.1600 12.8%
2929.10.3000 $0.026/kg + 15.2%
LINURON TECHNICAL/3,4-dichlorophenyl isocyanate 2924.21.1600 12.8%
2929.10.3000 $0.026/kg + 15.2%
HERBICIDE (for customer)/benzoic acid compounds 2935.00.1300 duty-free
2916.31.5000 $0.03/kg + 16.8%
TROMETAMOL/nitromethane........................ 2922.21.1600 duty-free
2904.20.5000 7.4%
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At the outset, the main use of zone procedures would be to allow a customer (operating under zone procedures) choose the duty rate that applies to its finished product (duty-free) rather than the duty rate that would otherwise apply to the foreign-sourced item ($0.03/kg + 16.8%). The application indicates that the savings from zone procedures will help improve the international competitiveness of Cedar and its customers.
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 is invited from interested parties. Submissions (original and 3 copies) shall be addressed to the Board's Executive Secretary at the address below. The closing period for their receipt is April 1, 1996. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15- day period (to April 15, 1996.)
A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be available for public inspection at each of the following locations:
U.S. Department of Commerce District Office, TCBY Tower Bldg., Suite 700, 425 West Capitol Ave., Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 3716, 14th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230
Dated: January 22, 1996. John J. Da Ponte, Jr., Executive Secretary. [FR Doc. 96-1612 Filed 1-29-96; 8:45 am]