[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 175 (Wednesday, September 10, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47625-47626]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-23997]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket 70-97]


Foreign-Trade Zone 27--Boston, MA; Application for Subzone 
Status; Massachusetts Heavy Industries, Inc. (Shipbuilding)

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the Massachusetts Port Authority, grantee of FTZ 27, 
requesting special-purpose subzone status for the shipbuilding facility 
of Massachusetts Heavy Industries, Inc. (MHI), in Quincy, Massachusetts 
(formerly, General Dynamics-Quincy shipyard, the site of former FTZ 
Subzone 27B). 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 
September 4, 1997.
    The MHI shipyard (104 acres, up to 1,000 employees) is located at 
115 East Howard Street in the City of Quincy, on the Weymouth Fore 
River. Currently undergoing extensive renovation, the facility will be 
used for the construction, repair, and conversion of commercial vessels 
for domestic and international customers. Foreign components expected 
to be used at the MHI shipyard (up to 30% of total) include propulsion 
units, main engines and control systems, profile steel, casting plates, 
bow thrusters, pumps, tank level and alarm systems, diesel generators, 
navigation equipment, radio communications, deck machinery, rudder 
systems, heating/ventilation systems, valves, gauges, boilers, pumps, 
condensers, propellers and shafts, anchor systems, incinerators, inert 
gas plants, lifeboats/davits, hydraulic power

[[Page 47626]]

racks, emergency generators, panels and consoles (1997 duty rate range: 
free--5.2%, ad valorem).
    FTZ procedures would exempt MHI from Customs duty payments on the 
foreign components (except steel mill products) used in export activity 
(up to 100% of total production). On its domestic sales, the company 
would be able to choose the duty rate that applies to finished 
oceangoing vessels (duty free) for the foreign-origin components noted 
above. The manufacturing activity conducted under FTZ procedures would 
be subject to the ``standard shipyard restriction'' applicable to 
foreign-origin steel mill products (e.g., pipe, plate), which requires 
that Customs duties be paid on such items. The application indicates 
that the savings from FTZ procedures would help improve the facility'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 November 10, 1997. Rebuttal comments in 
response to material submitted during the foregoing period may be 
submitted during the subsequent 15-day period (to November 24, 1997).
    A copy of the application will be available for public inspection 
at the following locations:

U.S. Department of Commerce, Export Assistance Center, World Trade 
Center, Suite 307, 164 Northern Avenue, Boston, MA 02210
Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, Room 
3716, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street & Pennsylvania Avenue, 
NW, Washington, DC 20230

    Dated: September 4, 1997.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-23997 Filed 9-9-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-25-P