[Federal Register: February 11, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 28)]
[Notices]               
[Page 6877-6878]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11fe99-39]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket 3-99]

 
Foreign-Trade Subzone 229A--Buffalo, WV; Expansion of 
Manufacturing Authority; Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia, Inc. 
(Automobile Engines)

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia, Inc. (TMMWV), 
operator of Subzone 229A, requesting an expansion of the scope of 
manufacturing authority to include new automobile engine manufacturing 
capacity under FTZ procedures within Subzone 229A at the TMMWV plant in 
Buffalo, West Virginia. It was formally filed on February 1, 1999.
    Subzone 229A was approved in 1998 with activity granted for the 
manufacture of internal-combustion engines for automobiles (Board Order 
955, 63 FR 9177, 2-14-98).
    TMMWV is now requesting that its scope of manufacturing authority 
be extended to include increased capacity for the production of six-
cylinder engines. The completed engines will be shipped to Toyota's 
automobile assembly plants in California and Kentucky. The TMMWV 
plant's capacity will be increased from 400,000 engines per year to a 
total of 500,000 engines annually, and the activity will involve 
machining and assembly using domestic and foreign-origin components. 
The expanded operations will maintain or reduce the current level of 
foreign-sourced components used in the manufacturing process. 
Components to be sourced from abroad include (comprising about 45% of 
the finished engines' material value): spark plug tubes, oil control/
camshaft timing assemblies, oil control valve filters, connector tubes, 
plate washers, intake-air surge assemblies, gaskets, exhaust manifolds, 
fuel pipe subassemblies, emission control valves, and fuel vapor hoses 
(duty rates: free, 2.6%).
    FTZ procedures would exempt TMMWV from Customs duty payments on the 
foreign components used in production for export. On engines shipped to 
domestic auto assembly plants, company would be able to choose the 2.5 
percent automobile duty rate for the foreign inputs noted above when 
the engines (as components of autos) are processed for Customs entry. 
The engine rate (2.6%) would apply to the foreign components if the 
finished engines are directly entered from the TMMWV plant. The 
application indicates that the savings from FTZ procedures 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 April 12, 1999. Rebuttal comments in 
response to material submitted during the foregoing period may be 
submitted during the subsequent 15-day period to April 27, 1999.
    A copy of the application and the accompanying exhibits will be 
available

[[Page 6878]]

for public inspection at each of the following locations:

U.S. Department of Commerce Export Assistance Center, Suite 807, 405 
Capitol Street, Charleston, WV 25301
Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, Room 3716, 14th Street & Pennsylvania Avenue, 
NW, Washington, DC 20230

    Dated: February 1, 1999.
Dennis Puccinelli,
Acting Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board.
[FR Doc. 99-3414 Filed 2-10-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P