Large and small companies are resorting to special US sites to avoid at least temporarily, the payment of new tariffs implemented by President Trump.
These locations, called Foreign Trade Areas (FTZS) and linked stores, are designated special sites, storage or manufacturing guaranteed storage approved by the customs of the United States, where the load is not subject to the special tariffs or taxes of the US.
“A year ago, a FTZ was not a narrow due to the investment that a company would have to do,” said Jackson Wood, industry strategy director for Global Trade Intelligence Descartes, which provides assistance from the FTZ technology system. “Now they are reducing the number to see if it makes financial sense, and for some it does,” said Wood, including the smallest companies that begin to consider the FTZ as the rates shoot.
There is a 90 -day break for most countries before the new tariffs reach new tariffs, thought tariffs for Chinese products are now so high axis of 145%.
FTZS allows US imports and manufacturers to store imports of finished products for an indefinite amount of time without paying commercial tariffs. The bail imported and placed in a warehouse in union can be stored for up to five years from the day it was imported to the country. Depending on the day when the freight moves outside an FTZ or a linked warehouse, importers could pay reduced custom, taxes or rates, or none, a strategic approach to import management also knows an “inverted rate.”
The postponement of tariffs, taxes and rates that normally apply when importing significantly improve the financial position of a company by providing cost savings, operational flexibility and a better cash flow.
Jeffrey J. Table, president of the National Association of Foreign Trade, says that his organization began to see an increase in the duration of membership in the presidential elections of 2024, and the records have continued advancing, and the membership is in its place.
“With the tariff changes that occur so fast, there are companies that seek FTZ storage space to defer the tasks until they can decide how they want to try the merchandise, much or what was bought.” “At any time, tariffs are in the news, we see an increase in interest in all programs that help US companies mitigate the impact.”
Table said there is also a greater interest with respect to the beneficiaries of FTZ, who are authorized by the Board of Extracted Trade Zones to establish, operate and maintain a foreign trade zone, with consultations of up to two or four times what is typical.
The Congress created FTZS in the 1930s to encourage national investment in the US. The use of the external areas program more than 550,000 US workers in the 50 States and Puerto Rico, and in practically all sectors of INDY.
Companies may choose not to send products at all, and recent data outside Asia show a strong decrease in manufacturing orders and load ships navigations. Taking the products and using tax -free zones is the other option.
“Recent tariff changes have made the FTZ more attractive, since other tax reduction or recovery options, such as the disadvantage of duty, are not eligible for new rates,” said Chelsea Pavona Gardner, a Maersk spokeswoman for North America. “As a result, companies that previously fired FTZ now consider them a viable strategy,” he said.
“We are at the point where we have a combination of customers waiting for the next 30 days to see what happens,” said Janet Labuda, customs director and commercial problems in Maersk. “We have others that take products and move to linked warehouses for 30 days or so to see if any of this explodes and then extracts it to the tasks that will be charged that day,” he added.
Configuring a FTZ can be expensive, with positions of professional services to navigate the initial process and approach or the use of the area, as well as trained personnel and dedicated IT systems to administer the area once operational.
According to Gardner, the use of a FTZ depends more on the scale of the import activities of a company that in the same industry, but the main users of FTZ in the past have been consumer goods and retail, automotive, aerospace and electronic trade.
In addition to warehouse storage, manufacturing plants or plant portions, they can become a FTZ in cases where the components of a company have a higher rate than the well -finished. Once the FTZ is finished, the company pays a lower rate. There is also an option for companies to have a customs approach to the scrap of any excess material that is not used in the manufacturing process, which would not be subject to duty. This exemption can also include the export of the product to another country.
Jordan Dewart, president of Redwood Logistics Mexico, said his company has been presenting many Perspectives and requests for FTZ services. Although the Trump administration has said that it is in conversations with 75 countries for commercial agreements since it announced new rates, Dewart said that the increase in FTZ’s interest is a sign that imports are concerned about how long the trade war could last. “It seems that customers are looking for a solution in case the rates are in the long term,” he said.