[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 42 (Friday, March 1, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8027-8028]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-4753]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket 13-96]


Foreign-Trade Subzone 78A--Nissan Motor Manufacturing Corporation 
U.S.A. (Motor Vehicles and Components); Expansion of Subzone; Smyrna, 
TN

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County Port 
Authority, grantee of FTZ 78, Nashville, Tennessee, requesting 
authority to expand FTZ Subzone 78A (Nissan Motor Manufacturing 
Corporation U.S.A. (NMMC) plant, Smyrna, Tennessee), to include a site 
in Decherd, Tennessee. 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 21, 1996.
    Subzone 78A was approved in 1982 for the manufacture of pickup 
trucks (Board Order 190, 47 FR 16191, 4-12-82), and the scope of 
manufacturing authority was expanded to include automobiles, engines 
and transaxles in 1984 (Board Order 272, 49 FR 35395, 9-7-84). In 1993, 
the subzone boundaries were expanded, as was the scope of authority to 
manufacture under zone procedures (Board Order 632, 58 FR 18850, 3-30-
93).
    NMMC now requests that the subzone status be extended to include 
its new engine/powertrain plant (currently under construction) in 
Decherd (Franklin County), Tennessee, some 65 miles west of 
Chattanooga. The new manufacturing facility (200,000 sq. ft. on 958 
acres) will be used to produce 200,000 engines and 300,000 transaxles 
annually. The engines will equip autos manufactured at NMMC's Smyrna 
plant. The transaxles will be used to equip autos manufactured in 
NMMC's Smyrna plant and minivans (a Ford/Nissan joint-venture vehicle) 
manufactured at 

[[Page 8028]]
Ford's Avon Lake, Ohio, plant (Subzone 40C). The application states 
that the powertrain components produced at the new Decherd plant (471 
employees) will displace imports of finished Nissan engines and 
transaxles. Actually, NMMC already has authority to produce these items 
under zone procedures within FTZ Subzone 78A (450,000 engines, 270,000 
transaxles annually) for vehicles assembled at Smyrna and Avon Lake, so 
this proposed subzone expansion will allow some of these items to be 
produced under zone procedures at the new plant site.
    Parts and materials that would initially be sourced from abroad 
include: gaskets/seals, articles of plastic and rubber, hoses, roller 
chain, steel studs, fasteners, cylinder heads, connecting rods, water 
pumps, filters, valves, camshafts, crankshafts, bearings, flywheels, 
pulleys, spark plugs, distributors, ignition parts, clutches (and 
related parts), electronic controlling apparatus, thermostats, other 
parts of internal combustion engines, lubricating pumps, valve bodies, 
and electronic controlling apparatus (duty rate range: free-10.8%). The 
application indicates that the projected level of domestic parts 
sourcing at the Decherd facility will be similar to the pattern for 
motor vehicles manufactured at NMMC's Smyrna plant.
    Zone procedures would continue to exempt NMMC from Customs duty 
payments on the foreign components used in production for export. On 
its domestic sales, the company would be able to continue to choose the 
lower duty rate that applies to finished autos (2.5%) for the foreign 
inputs noted above. On finished engines and transaxles transferred to 
other auto assembly subzones, duties on their foreign components could 
be paid when those finished vehicles are withdrawn for Customs entry. 
The application indicates that the savings from zone procedures would 
help improve the Decherd plant's 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 April 30, 1996. Rebuttal comments in 
response to material submitted during the foregoing period may be 
submitted during the subsequent 15-day period (to May 15, 1996).
    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, Post Office Box 
270008, 939 Airport Service Road, Nashville, TN 37227; and
Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, Room 3716, 14th Street & Pennsylvania 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230

    Dated: February 22, 1996.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-4753 Filed 2-29-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P