Foreign-Trade Zone 29--Louisville, KY, Application for Expansion of Manufacturing Authority, Subzone 29F, Hitachi Automotive Systems Americas, Inc. (Automotive Electronic Components)

Andrew McGilvray
Federal Register
February 16, 2011

[Federal Register: February 16, 2011 (Volume 76, Number 32)]
[Notices]               
[Page 9000]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr16fe11-36]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

[Docket 9-2011]

 
Foreign-Trade Zone 29--Louisville, KY, Application for Expansion 
of Manufacturing Authority, Subzone 29F, Hitachi Automotive Systems 
Americas, Inc. (Automotive Electronic Components)

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the Louisville and Jefferson County Riverport Authority 
(LJCRA), grantee of FTZ 29, on behalf of Hitachi Automotive Systems 
Americas, Inc. (HIAMS-AM) (formerly Hitachi Automotive Products (USA), 
Inc.), operator of Subzone 29F, HIAMS-AM plant, Harrodsburg, Kentucky, 
requesting authority to expand the scope of FTZ manufacturing 
authority. The application was submitted pursuant to the provisions of 
the Foreign-Trade Zones Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 81a-81u), and 
section 400.28(a)(2) of the Board's regulations (15 CFR part 400). It 
was formally filed on February 10, 2011.
    Subzone 29F was approved by the Board in 1990 with authority 
granted for the manufacture of automotive components at the HIAMS-AM 
plant located at 955 Warwick Road (Site 1) (50 acres) in Harrodsburg, 
Kentucky (Board Order 497, 56 FR 674, 1-8-91). Activity at the facility 
(624 employees) includes machining, assembly, testing, warehousing, and 
distribution of various automotive components, including mass air 
sensors, throttle bodies and chambers, starter motors, motor/generator 
units, alternators, distributors, other static converters, inverter 
modules, rotors/stators, ignition coils, electronic sensors and 
modules, fuel injectors, emissions control equipment, valves, pumps, 
and electronic control units for engines and transmissions (capacity--
up to 8.5 million units annually).
    LJCRA previously submitted an application in 2010 on behalf of 
HIAMS-AM requesting authority to expand the subzone to include two new 
warehouse facilities (adding Site 2 and Site 3) and to expand its scope 
of FTZ manufacturing authority to add 720,000 units to its authorized 
annual production capacity (proposed combined output: 9.22 million 
units per year) and to include the manufacture of high pressure, 
direct-injection fuel pumps as an additional finished product to be 
manufactured under FTZ procedures (Docket 38-2010; 75 FR 29723, 5-27-
2010).
    The applicant now requests that the scope of FTZ manufacturing 
authority be expanded to include additional production capacity 
(330,000 units per year) that will be added at the facility in 2011 
(new combined output would be 9.55 million units per year). The 
expanded operations will involve similar finished products and 
utilization of both foreign-sourced and domestic materials and 
components under HIAMS-AM's existing scope of FTZ authority.
    Components and materials sourced from abroad (representing about 80 
percent of the finished automotive components' material value) include: 
adhesives, plastic fittings, plastic and rubber belts, fasteners, 
gaskets/seals/o-rings, metal fittings, labels, plastic wedging, 
springs, brackets, plates, filters, bearings, air pumps/compressors, 
valves, switches, electric motors, tubes/pipes/profiles, aluminum 
plugs, transformers, crankshafts, camshafts, gears, pulleys, couplings, 
clutches, parts of electric motors, pinions, magnets, ignition parts, 
diodes, transistors, resistors, semiconductors, liquid crystal devices, 
electrical instruments, navigation apparatuses, capacitors, printed/
integrated circuits, fuses, rheostats, connectors, terminals, 
piezoelectric crystals, regulators, lamps, wires, cables, cylinders, 
plungers, insulators, brushes, brackets, shafts, and measuring 
instruments (duty rate range: free--9.0%).
    Expanded FTZ procedures could continue to exempt HIAMS-AM from 
customs duty payments on the foreign-origin components used in 
production for export (about 30% of shipments). On its domestic 
shipments, the company would be able to elect the duty rate that 
applies to finished automotive components (free--6.7%) for the foreign-
origin inputs noted above. Subzone status would further allow HIAMS-AM 
to realize logistical benefits through the use of weekly customs entry 
procedures. Customs duties also could possibly be deferred or reduced 
on foreign status production equipment. HIAMS-AM would also be exempt 
from duty payments on foreign inputs that become scrap during the 
production process.
    In accordance with the Board's regulations, Pierre Duy of the FTZ 
Staff is designated examiner to evaluate and analyze the facts and 
information presented in the application and case record and to report 
findings and recommendations 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 following address: Office of the Executive Secretary, 
Room 2111, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20230-0002. The closing period for receipt of comments 
is April 18, 2011. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted 
during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-
day period to May 2, 2011.
    A copy of the application will be available for public inspection 
at the Office of the Foreign-Trade Zones Board's Executive Secretary at 
the address listed above and in the ``Reading Room'' section of the 
Board's Web site, which is accessible via http://www.trade.gov/ftz.
    For further information, contact Pierre Duy at Pierre.Duy@trade.gov 
or (202) 482-1378.

    Dated: February 10, 2011.
Andrew McGilvray,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-3539 Filed 2-15-11; 8:45 am]
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