DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket No. 45-83]
48 FR 55890
December 16, 1983
Foreign-Trade Zone 53, Rogers County, Oklahoma; Application for Subzone, GM
Auto Plant, Oklahoma City
TEXT: An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board
(the Board) by the City of Tulsa-Rogers County Port Authority, grantee of
Foreign-Trade Zone 53, Tulsa, requesting special-purpose subzone status for
General Motors Corporation's (GM) automobile assembly plant in Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma, within the Oklahoma City Customs port of entry. 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 December 1, 1983. The applicant
is authorized to make this proposal under Section 1106(g) of Title 82,
Oklahoma Statutes.
On December 7, 1979, the Board authorized the Port Authority to establish
a foreign-trade zone in the Tulsa area (Board Order 151, 44 FR 76382,
12/26/79). The project currently covers 112 acres within the 2,000-acre port
terminal and industrial park complex at the Tulsa Port of Catoosa in Rogers
County.
The proposed subzone would involve GM's Oklahoma City plant, which
covers 437 acres at 7447 S.E. 74th Street. The facility, which employs some
6300 workers, produces Chevrolet Citation and Celebrity, and Buick Century
model automobiles. Although most of the parts and material used at the
plant are produced domestically, some 3 percent of the components are
imported, including optional engines, seat belts, seat covers, solenoids
and wiring harness assemblies.
Zone procedures will exempt GM from paying duties on foreign components
used on its exports. On its domestic sales the company will be able to
defer duty and to take advantage of the same duty rate available to
importers of finished autos. The estimated average duty rate on the foreign
components used by GM is 4.3 percent whereas the rate for finished autos is
2.8 percent. The reduction of Customs costs is part of GM's overall program
to modernize and reduce costs at its U.S. assembly plants, making them more
competitive with auto assembly facilities offshore.
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: Dennis Puccinelli (Chairman), Foreign-Trade Zones
Staff, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. 20230; Donald Gough,
Deputy Assistant Regional Commissioner, U.S. Customs Service, Southwest
Region, 5850 San Felipe Street, Houston, TX 77057; and Colonel James J.
Harmon, District Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District Tulsa, P.O. Box 61,
Tulsa, OK 74121.
Comments concerning the proposed subzone are invited in writing from
interested persons and organizations. They should be addressed to the
Board's Executive Secretary at the address below and postmarked on or
before January 18, 1984.
A copy of the application is available for public inspection at each of
the following locations:
U.S. Dept. of Commerce District Office,
4024 Lincoln Blvd.,
Oklahoma City, OK 73105.
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 1872,
14th and Pennsylvania, NW.,
Washington, D.C. 20230.
Dated: December 12, 1983.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 83-33476 Filed 12-15-83; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-25-M