[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 216 (Wednesday, November 7, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56271-56272]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-27978]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

[Docket 43-2001]


Foreign-Trade Zone 146--Lawrence County, IL; Application for 
Subzone Expansion-Subzone 146A, North American Lighting, Inc., 
Facilities, Flora and Salem, Illinois (Automotive Lighting Products)

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the Bi-State Authority, grantee of FTZ 146, requesting 
authority on behalf of North American Lighting, Inc. (NAL), operator of 
FTZ 146A, at the NAL automotive lighting products manufacturing 
facilities in Flora and Salem, Illinois, to expand FTZ Subzone 146A to 
include a new site in Paris, Illinois, and requesting authority to 
expand the scope of FTZ authority to include new manufacturing capacity 
under FTZ procedures. 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 October 31, 2001.
    Subzone 146A was approved by the Board in 1988 with authority 
granted for the manufacture of automotive lighting components and other 
related auto parts at NAL's manufacturing facilities (355,000 sq.ft./14 
acres) in Flora, Illinois (Site 1) (Board Order 371, 53 FR 5436, 2-24-
88). The subzone was subsequently reorganized and expanded to include 
NAL's second manufacturing facility (380,000 sq.ft./22 acres) in the 
Salem Industrial Park, Salem, Illinois (Site 2) (Board Order 718, 60 FR 
2375, 1-9-95). In January 2001, the Board approved an expansion of the 
scope of FTZ manufacturing authority up to 56 million units annually, 
with a concurrent expansion of the boundaries of Subzone 146A (Board 
Order 1142, 66 FR 8195, 1-30-01).
    The applicant is now requesting authority to expand the subzone to 
include a new site, currently under construction, located at 2277 South 
Main in Paris (Edgar County), Illinois. Proposed Site 3 would include a 
41-acre parcel within the Paris Industrial Park containing a 179,000 
square foot

[[Page 56272]]

automotive lighting product manufacturing facility (250 employees). 
Under the current expansion plan, the NAL facilities' production 
capacity will be almost doubled (to 100 million units per year) with 
the addition of up to 1.2 million square feet of production area within 
proposed Site 3. Activity at the new facility would be similar to 
existing production at the Salem and Flora sites, involving design, 
injection molding, plating and assembly of motor vehicle headlamps, 
rear combination lamps, high mount stop lamps, turn signals, dome and 
trunk lamps, fog lamps, side marker and license plate lamps using 
domestic and foreign-origin components. Foreign-sourced components and 
materials (about 19 percent of total purchases) include (with scope 
increase): various polymers and resins in primary form (HTSUS Ch. 39), 
articles of rubber and plastic, parts of lighting equipment, wiring 
harnesses, bulbs, gaskets/seals, fasteners, optical elements of glass, 
certain electrical apparatus (including motors, switches), springs, 
articles of copper, printed circuits, lamps and lenses, optical fiber 
and cable/bundles (duty rates: free -12.5%, 1.1 cents/kg+2.9%).
    FTZ procedures exempt NAL from Customs duty payments on the foreign 
components used in export production (16% of shipments). On its 
domestic sales (including NAFTA markets), the company is able to choose 
the duty rates that apply to finished automotive lighting equipment and 
parts (duty free, 2.5%) for the foreign components possessing higher 
duty rates. The auto duty rate (2.5%) applies if the finished lighting 
products are shipped via zone-to-zone transfer to U.S. motor vehicle 
assembly plants with subzone status. The request indicates that the 
savings from FTZ procedures will continue to 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 following addresses:
    1. Submissions via Express/Package Delivery Services: Foreign-Trade 
Zones Board, U.S. Department of Commerce, Franklin Court Building-Suite 
4100W, 1099 14th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005; or,
    2. Submissions via the U.S. Postal Service: Foreign-Trade Zones 
Board, U.S. Department of Commerce, FCB-4100W, 1401 Constitution Ave., 
NW., Washington, DC 20230.
    The closing period for their receipt is January 7, 2002. Rebuttal 
comments in response to material submitted during the foregoing period 
may be submitted during the subsequent 15-day period (to January 22, 
2002).
    A copy of the application will be available for public inspection 
at the Office of the Foreign-Trade Zones Board's Executive Secretary at 
address No.1 listed above and at the U.S. Department of Commerce Export 
Assistance Center, Suite 2440, 55 West Monroe Street, Chicago, IL 
60603.

    Dated: October 31, 2001.
Dennis Puccinelli,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 01-27978 Filed 11-6-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P