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

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