DOVER, Del. (AP) — The state economic development office has asked the federal government to allow Fisker Automotive to build electric cars in Delaware under foreign trade zone procedures.
Fisker, which received a half-billion-dollar loan from the federal government, has said it plans to employ more than 2,000 workers to build plug-in vehicles at the former General Motors plant on Boxwood Road in Wilmington.
About 40 percent of the components used to build the cars would be purchased from abroad.
Foreign Trade Zone procedures could exempt Fisker from customs duty payments on foreign components used in export production, which Fisker expects will account for about half of the plant's shipments.
Officials say the savings from FTZ procedures would help improve the plant's international competitiveness.