[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 160 (Thursday, August 17, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50178-50179]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-20986]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

[Docket 48-2000]


Foreign-Trade Zone 134-Chattanooga, Tennessee Application For 
Foreign-Trade Subzone Status Komatsu America International Co. 
(Construction Equipment); Chattanooga, TN

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the Chattanooga Chamber Foundation, grantee of FTZ 134, 
requesting special-purpose subzone status for the manufacturing 
facilities (construction equipment) of Komatsu America International 
Company (Komatsu), located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The application 
was submitted pursuant to 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 August 11, 2000.
    The Komatsu facilities (48.95 acres, 494,559 sq. ft.) are located 
at 409 Signal Mountain Road. These facilities (425 employees) are 
currently used for the manufacture of hydraulic excavators, wheel 
loaders, motor graders, and mobile cranes. Some of the components used 
in manufacturing these products may be purchased from abroad (domestic 
content on certain products can range up to 77%), including the 
following categories: internal-combustion piston engines and engine 
parts; hydraulic turbines; turbojets, turbopropellers, and other gas 
turbines; liquid, air and vacuum pumps; air-conditioning machines; 
gaskets, gasket sets, and mechanical seals; electric motors and 
generators; primary cells and primary batteries; electric storage 
batteries; electrical equipment (including for ignition, starting, 
lighting, or signaling, and windshield wipers and defrosters); styrene 
polymers; plastic products (including tubes, pipes, hoses, fittings, 
plates, sheets, film, foil, tape, strip, closures, and builders' ware); 
vulcanized rubber products (including plates, sheets, strip, rods, 
profile shapes, tubes, pipes, hoses, and conveyor or transmission 
belts); leather articles for technical uses; agglomerated cork; paper 
and paperboard products (including labels, cellulose wadding, and webs 
of cellulose fibers); glass products (including safety glass, mirrors, 
envelopes for lamps, signaling glassware and optical elements, and 
glass fibers and articles thereof); reservoirs, vats and similar 
containers of iron or steel; fasteners of iron or steel; iron or steel 
springs; copper products (including

[[Page 50179]]

bars, rods, profiles, plates, sheets, strip, foil, tubes, pipes, tube 
or pipe fittings, nails, tacks, drawing pins, and staples); aluminum 
products (including plates, sheets, strip, tubes, pipes, and tube or 
pipe fittings); hand tools; spanners and wrenches; padlocks and locks; 
base metal products (including mountings, fittings, castors, stoppers, 
caps, lids, and sign plates); taps, cocks, and valves for pipes, 
boilers, shells, and vats; portable electric lamps; electric heating 
equipments; microphones, loudspeakers, headphones, and earphones; sound 
reproducing devices; radio and television receivers; electrical 
resistors; electrical switching apparatuses; electric lamps; insulated 
wire, cable, and conductors; motor vehicle bodies, parts, and 
accessories; instruments, meters, and counters; seats and other 
furniture; and cigarette and other lighters. Duty rates on these 
categories range from duty-free to 12.5%.
    Zone procedures would exempt Komatsu from Customs duty payments on 
foreign components used in export production. On domestic shipments, 
the company would be able to defer Customs duty payments on foreign 
materials, and to choose the duty rate that applies to the finished 
products (duty free) instead of the rates otherwise applicable to the 
foreign input materials (noted above). The company would also be exempt 
from duty payments on foreign merchandise that becomes scrap/waste 
(scrap rate estimated at 5% to 7% of parts). FTZ procedures will help 
Komatsu to implement a more cost-effective system for handling Customs 
requirements (including reduced Customs merchandise processing fees). 
FTZ status may also make a site eligible for benefits provided under 
state/local programs. The application indicates that the savings from 
zone procedures would help improve the facilities' 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 October 16, 2000. Rebuttal comments in 
response to material submitted during the foregoing period may be 
submitted during the subsequent 15-day period to October 31, 2000.
    A copy of the application and the accompanying exhibits will be 
available for public inspection at each of the following locations:
Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, Room 4008, 14th and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., 
Washington, D.C. 20230.
U.S. Department of Commerce Export Assistance Center, 601 West Summit 
Hill Drive, Suite 300, Knoxville, TN 37902.

    Dated: August 11, 2000.
Dennis Puccinelli,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 00-20986 Filed 8-16-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P