Foreign-Trade Zone 98--Birmingham, AL; Application for Subzone, Mercedes-Benz Project, Inc., Plant (Multi-Purpose Vehicles), Tuscaloosa, Alabama Publication: Federal Register Agency: Foreign-Trade Zones Board Byline: John J. Da Ponte Jr. Date: 1 March 1995 Subject: American Government Topic: Mercedes-Benz

[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 1, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 11070]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-5052]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket 6-95]


Foreign-Trade Zone 98--Birmingham, AL; Application for Subzone, 
Mercedes-Benz Project, Inc., Plant (Multi-Purpose Vehicles), 
Tuscaloosa, Alabama

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the City of Birmingham, Alabama, grantee of FTZ 98, 
requesting special-purpose subzone status for the vehicle manufacturing 
plant of the Mercedes-Benz Project, Inc. (MBPI) (subsidiary of Daimler-
Benz AG, Germany), located in Tuscaloosa County, 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 February 16, 
1995.
    The new Mercedes-Benz plant is located at the juncture of 
Interstate Highway 20/59, Will Walker Road, and U.S. Highway 11, about 
10 miles east of the City of Tuscaloosa. The facility (900 acres, 1.67 
million sq. ft.), currently under construction, will employ some 1,500 
workers to produce up to 80,000 multi-purpose passenger vehicles 
annually. The application indicates that foreign-sourced parts and 
materials may represent up to 50 percent of the finished vehicles' 
material value, including: paint, hydraulic fluids, antifreeze, tires, 
brake components, mirrors, glass items, items of plastic/rubber, steel 
tubes/pipes/profiles and wire/cables, articles of aluminum, wiring 
harnesses, electrical switches, fasteners, steel springs, engines and 
transmissions (and parts), axles, parts of base metal, pumps, air 
conditioners, taps/cocks/valves, electric motors, batteries, bearings, 
lamps, audio equipment, radar detectors, vehicle bodies, fuel tanks, 
sunroofs, bumpers, electronic gauges, regulators, and instruments (duty 
rate range: 2.5-13.6%). The finished vehicles would be sold in the U.S. 
and exported.
    Zone procedures would exempt MBPI from Customs duty payments on the 
foreign items used in production for export. On domestic sales, the 
company would be able to choose the duty rate that applies to finished 
passenger vehicles (2.5%) for the foreign material inputs noted above. 
The application indicates that the savings from zone procedures would 
help improve the plant's international competitiveness.
    In accordance with the Board's regulations, a member of the FTZ 
Staff has been appointed 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 May 1, 1995. Rebuttal comments in response 
to material submitted during the foregoing period may be submitted 
during the subsequent 15-day period (to May 15, 1995).
    A copy of the application and the accompanying exhibits will be 
available for public inspection at each of the following locations:

U.S. Department of Commerce District Office, Medical Forum Building, 
7th Floor, 950 22nd Street North, Birmingham, AL 35203.
Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, Room 3716, 14th Street & Constitution Avenue, 
NW., Washington, DC 20230.

    Dated: February 21, 1995.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 95-5052 Filed 2-28-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P