Black & Decker seeks own duty-free warehouse zone

Black & Decker seeks own duty-free warehouse zone    Took maker Black & Decker is seeking foreign-trade zone status from the federal government to help reduce logistics and distribution costs for imported goods at its new southern California distribution center.
   Companies that operate in foreign trade zones can defer or reduce duties on imported merchandise that goes through a designated zone, thus making them more competitive.
   Black & Decker’s facility, which is expected to open in the I-210 Industrial Park in Rialto, Calif., in early 2005, will be used for order fulfillment, repackaging, relabeling, warehousing and distribution of handheld tools, home products, security hardware, plumbing products and fastening systems.
   Southern California Logistics Airport Authority, which controls the rights to the general foreign-trade zone, sponsored Black & Decker’s request for a special-purpose subzone to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board, according to a Federal Register notice Thursday.
   Black & Decker uses foreign supply sources for about 80 percent of the products it sells in the United States.
   The Foreign-Trade Zones Board will receive public comment on the application through Oct. 25. For more information, see the notice at https://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/06jun20041800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/pdf/04-19531.pdf