DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket 1-90]
55 FR 2123
January 22, 1990
Foreign-Trade Zone 45 -- Portland, OR; Application for Expansion and
Reorganization
TEXT: An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board
(the Board) by the Port of Portland, grantee of FTZ 45, requesting authority
to expand its zone in Multnomah County, Oregon, within the Portland Customs
port of entry. The application includes requests for manufacturing authority
within the expanded zone on behalf of Oregon Steel Mills, Inc., and
Tektronix, Inc., as well as authority for shipbuilding activity within the
Port's shipyard facility. The application was submitted pursuant to the
provisions of the Foreign-Trade Zones Act, as amended (19 USC 81a-81u), and
the regulations of the Board (15 CFR Part 400). It was formally filed on
January 11, 1990.
FTZ 45 was approved by the Board on December 18, 1978 (Board Order 140,
43 FR 60323, 12/27/78). It currently consists of: 62 acres within the Port's
Rivergate Industrial Park; a nearby warehouse (Northern Warehousing, Inc.);
a 3-acre site at the Portland Ship Repair Yard; and, a temporary 3.7-acre
warehouse/processing facility (Tektronix, Inc.) which expires August 30,
1990.
The grantee is now requesting authority to expand the zone and establish
the following revised site plan:
Site 1 -- 1,830 acres (including the existing 62 acres) within the 3000-acre
Rivergate Industrial Park, including Port Terminal Nos. 5, 6 and the Oregon
Steel Mills plant (including its nearby auxiliary facility).
Site 2 -- 1,163 acres (5 parcels) at the Portland International Airport.
Site 3 -- 254 acres at the Port-owned Portland Ship Repair Yard, 5555 N.
Channel Avenue (including the existing 3 acres).
Site 4 -- Port Terminal No. 1, 2200 NW. Front Street (43 acres).
Site 5 -- Port Terminal No. 2, 3556 NW. Front Avenue (49 acres).
Site 6 -- Port Terminal No. 4, N. Terminal Road and N. Lombard Street (241
acres) and adjacent to Northern Warehousing facility (40,000 sq. ft.).
Site 7 -- Tektronix, Inc., facility (3.7 acres), 14400 SW Millikan Way,
Beaverton (currently under temporary zone status).
The proposed manufacturing activity is as follows:
Oregon Steel Mills (OSM) -- production of hot rolled, alloy and heat-
treated steel plate (6.0% duty rate) from domestic- and foreign-sourced
semi-finished slabs (4.2% duty rate). The mill exports a significant amount
of its production. Zone procedures would exempt OSM from Customs duty
payment on the foreign items that are reexported. On its domestic sales,
OSM is seeking an exemption from Customs duties on scrap as well as duty
deferral.
Portland Ship Repair Yard (PSRY) -- construction and repair of oceangoing
an inland waterway vessels. Foreign-sourced items include sheet, pipe and
tubing of steel, copper, brass, bronze or aluminum, engines, propellers,
gears, bearings, fittings, cable, chain, heating and cooling equipment,
communication/navigation equipment, and miscellaneous vessel equipment and
fabricated parts. Most of the imported items are subject to significant
duties (up to 11%) while the finished products, as commercial vessels, are
duty-free. The applicant is aware that the FTZ Board has required full
payment of Customs duties on foreign steel in its past shipyard decisions.
Tektronix, Inc. -- repair electronic equipment (such as oscilliscopes)
for reexport (operation currently approved under temporary authority,
A-11-89, 8/4/89). The Port is requesting permanent authority for the
export activity.
The sites have a number of tenants who have expressed interest in using
zone procedures for warehousing and processing operation. The manufacturing
proposals are outlined above. Further requests for manufacturing authority
would be made to the Board on a case-by-case basis.
In accordance with the Board's regulations, an examiners committee has
been appointed to investigate the application and report to the Board. The
committee consists of: John J. Da Ponte, Jr. (Chairman), Foreign-Trade
Zones Staff, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230; Thomas
Hardy, District Director, U.S. Customs Service, Pacific Region, 511 NW
Boradway, Federal Building, Room 198, Portland, Oregon 97209; and, Colonel
Charles E. Cowan, District Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District Portland,
P.O. Box 2946, Portland, Oregon 97208-2946.
Comments concerning the proposed zone expansion are invited in writing
from interested parties. They should be addressed to the Board's Executive
Secretary at the address below and postmarked on or before March 1, 1990.
A copy of the application is available for public inspection at each of
the following locations:
Office of the Director,
U.S. Department of Commerce District Office,
1220 SW Third Avenue, Room 618,
Portland, OR 97204.
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 2835,
14th & Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20230.
Dated: January 16, 1990.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 90-1413 Filed 1-19-90; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-M