[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 250 (Thursday, December 28, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 82321]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-33200]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

[Docket 69-2000]


Request for Manufacturing Authority within Proposed Foreign-Trade 
Zone, Caterpillar Inc. (Construction Equipment), Waco, Texas

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the City of Waco (Texas), which has an application 
pending for Foreign-Trade Zone status, requesting authority on behalf 
of Caterpillar Inc. (Caterpillar) for the manufacture/processing of 
off-road articulated dump trucks under FTZ procedures within Site 2 of 
the proposed FTZ. 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 December 12, 2000.
    Caterpillar operates a 103-acre facility (110 employees projected) 
within the proposed foreign-trade zone for the manufacture/processing 
of off-road articulated dump trucks (imported duty-free under HTSUS 
heading 8704.10.50). Currently, components purchased from foreign 
sources comprise up to 48 percent of the finished product's value. The 
company indicates that the following foreign components will be 
admitted initially under FTZ procedures: cabs, axles, radial tires, and 
dump bodies (duty rates on these imported components currently range 
from 2.5 to 4.0 percent). Caterpillar also indicates that other 
components will be purchased from abroad as the company progresses with 
its planned transfer of additional production stages to the Waco site.
    This application requests authority to allow Caterpillar to conduct 
the activity under FTZ procedures, which would exempt the company from 
Customs duty payments on the foreign components used in export 
activity. On its domestic sales, the company would be able to choose 
the duty rate that applies to finished dump trucks (duty free) for 
foreign components, such as those noted above. The company would also 
be exempt from duty payments on foreign merchandise that becomes scrap/
waste. FTZ procedures would also exempt certain merchandise from 
certain ad valorem inventory taxes. The application indicates that the 
savings 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 February 26, 2001. Rebuttal comments in 
response to material submitted during the foregoing period may be 
submitted during the subsequent 15-day period to March 13, 2001.
    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, NW., 
Washington, DC 20230
Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, 101 South University Parks Drive, 
Waco, TX 76701

    Dated: December 15, 2000.
Dennis Puccinelli,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 00-33200 Filed 12-27-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P