DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket 9-97]
Foreign-Trade Zone 21, Charleston, South Carolina; Application
for Subzone Status, Bayer Corporation (Rubber Chemicals), Goose Creek,
South Carolina
An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board
(the Board) by the South Carolina State Ports Authority, grantee of FTZ
21, requesting special-purpose subzone status for the rubber chemicals
manufacturing facility of Bayer Corporation (Bayer) in Goose Creek,
South Carolina. 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 February 18, 1997.
The Bayer Corporation is a subsidiary of the Bayer AG (Germany), a
global manufacturer of health care and life science products, chemicals
and imaging systems. Its Fibers, Organics and Rubber Division operates
the Goose Creek rubber chemicals manufacturing facility. (Bayer has
several other manufacturing facilities in Goose Creek, but they are not
included in this request.)
Bayer's rubber chemicals manufacturing plant (100,000 sq.ft./4.4
acres) is located within the Bushy Park Industrial Complex, Highway 503
in Goose Creek (Berkeley County), South Carolina. The facility (60
employees) produces rubber chemicals used in the production of a
variety of industrial rubber products including tires, hoses, belts,
seals and gaskets. The main products currently manufactured at the
plant are benzothiazyl-2-cyclohexylsulfenamide (CBS) and benzothiazyl-
2-dicyclohexylsulfenamide (DCBS), rubber chemical accelerators;
2,2'Dibenzamido diphenyldisulfide (DBD), a peptizer used to improve the
mixing performance of natural rubber; and N-(1,3-dimethyl-butyl)-N'-
phenyl-p-phenylene diamine (6PPD), an antidegradant to prevent ozone
damage. The Bayer facilities include a new state-of-the-art plant for
the production of CBS and DCBS and expanded facilities for DBD
production. Some 10 to 50 percent of production is exported.
Zone procedures would exempt Bayer from Customs duty payments on
foreign materials used in production for export. On domestic shipments,
the company would be able to choose the duty rates that apply to the
finished products (duty-free to 15.1% + $0.017/kg) instead of the rates
otherwise applicable to the
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foreign materials. The HTSUS categories and duty rates for the finished
products are as follows:
--------------------------------------------------------------
Product HTSUS No. Duty rate
--------------------------------------------------------------
DBD...................... 2930.90.2600 duty-free.
6PPD..................... 2921.59.8090 15.1% + $0.017/kg.
CBS...................... 2934.20.8000 13.3% + $0.026/kg.
DCBS..................... 2934.20.2500 duty-free.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The HTSUS categories and duty rates for the primary foreign-sourced
inputs are as follows:
--------------------------------------------------------------
Input HTSUS No. Duty rate
--------------------------------------------------------------
Benzoyl chloride........ 2916.32.2000 7.1%.
4ADPA................... 2921.51.5000 15.1% + $0.017/kg.
Sodium MBT.............. 2934.20.2000 10.7% + $0.006/kg.
Dicyclohexylamine....... 2921.30.3000 13.7% + $0.026/kg.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Foreign materials account for some 20 to 40 percent of the value of
the final products. The application indicates that the savings from
zone procedures will help improve the international competitiveness of
the Bayer plant and will help increase exports.
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 is invited from interested parties. Submissions
(original and 3 copies) shall be addressed to the Board's Executive
Secretary at the address below. The closing period for their receipt is
April 29, 1997. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted
during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-
day period (to May 14, 1997).
A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be
available for public inspection at each of the following locations:
U.S. Department of Commerce Export Assistance Center, 81 Mary St.,
Charleston, South Carolina 29403
Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, U.S.
Department of Commerce, Room 3716, 14th & Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20230
Dated: February 21, 1997.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-5031 Filed 2-27-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
The Contents entry for this article reads as follows:
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
NOTICES
Applications, hearings, determinations, etc.:
South Carolina
Bayer Corp.; rubber chemicals manufacturing facility, 9159