Can manufacturers use a foreign trade zone to be competitive?
In 2000, Congress passed the Trade and Development Act, to create Foreign Trade Zones. Foreign Trade Zones (FTZ’s) exist throughout the USA to help domestic manufacturers save money and defer expenses. Think of an FTZ as a small island somewhere in the USA that is exempt from US Customs duties. An FTZ can be a port, part of a port, acreage in an industrial park, a warehouse, or even an office building! Anywhere goods can be imported, stored and then re-exported can be an FTZ. According to the National Association of Foreign Trade Zones (www.naftz.org) activities that can occur in an FTZ include: assembling, packaging, destroying, storing, cleaning, exhibiting, re-packing, distributing, sorting, grading, testing, labeling, repairing, combining with foreign or domestic content, or processing. Hence. Almost any manufacturers dealing with imported material can benefit from an FTZ. An example might be a bicycle manufacturer in Colorado. If the manufacturer is working with any imported compo
