[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 167 (Tuesday, August 29, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51183-51184]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-14338]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

[Docket 37-2006]


Foreign-Trade Zone 98 Birmingham, Alabama, Application for 
Subzone Status, NACCO Materials Handling Group, Inc., Plant (Forklift 
Truck Components), Sulligent, Alabama

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the City of Birmingham, grantee of FTZ 98, requesting 
special-purpose subzone status for the forklift truck components 
manufacturing facility of NACCO Materials Handling Group, Inc. (NMHG), 
located in Sulligent, Alabama. 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 August 22, 2006.
    The NMHG plant (68 acres/301,000 sq.ft.) is located in Lamar County 
on U.S. Highway 278 East, in Sulligent, Alabama, about 100 miles west 
of Birmingham. The facility (550 employees) is used to produce 
component parts, transmissions and drive axles for forklift trucks 
(Class I through Class V) powered by gasoline, propane, or electric 
motors. The manufacturing process at the facility involves machining, 
cutting, sawing, shearing, milling, welding, bending, and assembly with 
a total annual production value of approximately $150 million at full 
capacity. Components purchased from abroad (up to 20% of finished 
forklift truck value) used in manufacturing include: parts of forklift 
trucks, engines, parts of engines, control panels, control centers, 
switchgear assemblies, distribution boards, printed circuits, torque 
converters, parts of transmissions, gears, bearing housings, electric 
motors, hydraulic pumps, crankshafts, camshafts, transmission shafts, 
relays, flywheels, pulleys, tubes/pipes, ignition parts, harnesses, 
catalytic converters, filters, heat exchangers, hydraulic cylinders and 
related fluid power components, parts of valves and check appliances, 
fuel injection pumps, electromagnetic couplings/clutches/brakes, wire, 
electric conductors/converters, steering components, caps/lids, parts 
of pumps/compressors, starters, bearings, floor coverings, electrical 
connectors and related assemblies, wiring harnesses, fasteners, 
couplings/u-joints, chains, gaskets, generators, carbon brushes, 
transformers, rotors, stators, power supplies, converters, spark plugs, 
ignition coils and distributors, starter motors, relays, switches, 
horns, capacitors, resistors, fuses, controllers, circuit breakers and 
protectors, conductors, lamps/lighting equipment, wheel hubs, and parts 
of seats (duty rate range: free - 9.0%).
    FTZ procedures would exempt NMHG from Customs duty payments on the 
foreign components used in export production. On its domestic sales and 
exports to NAFTA markets, the company would be able to choose the duty 
rate that applies to forklift truck components (duty free) for the 
foreign-sourced inputs noted above. The forklift truck duty rate (free) 
would apply if the finished components are shipped via zone-to-zone 
transfer to U.S. forklift truck assembly plants with subzone status. 
Duties would be deferred or reduced on foreign production equipment 
admitted to the proposed subzone until such time as it becomes 
operational. The application indicates that subzone status 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 is invited from interested parties. Submissions 
(original and 3 copies) shall be addressed to the Board's Executive 
Secretary at the address below. The closing period for their receipt is 
October 30, 2006. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted 
during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-
day period to November 13, 2006.
    A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be 
available for public inspection at each of the following locations: 
U.S. Department of

[[Page 51184]]

Commerce Export Assistance Center, Suite 707, 950 22nd Street North, 
Birmingham, Alabama 35203-5309; and, Office of the Executive Secretary, 
Foreign-Trade Zones Board, Room 1115, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20230-0002; 
Tel: (202) 482-2862.

    Dated: August 22, 2006.
Andrew McGilvray,
Acting Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. E6-14338 Filed 8-28-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S