Federal Register, Volume 76 Issue 32 (Wednesday, February 16, 2011)[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 16, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 9000]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-3539]

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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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