Locating your businesses in FTZ (Foreign Trade Zones) can be a great way to execute international trade.

What are FTZs?

“A foreign-trade zone is a designated location in the United States where companies can use special procedures that help encourage U.S. activity and value added”, this is the mission statement of FTZ by CBP (Customs and Border Protection). A company that located inside the FTZ are actually considered foreign companies for custom purpose, and enjoy a couple of duty benefits.

Benefits of FTZ

Since companies located in FTZ are considered like it’s located outside of the United States. With that being said, U.S. import duties don’t have to be paid on imported components coming to your factory.

If your finished product is ultimately shipped to the U.S. market, you may have the option of paying the finished product duty rate rather than the component duty rate, which the finished product duty rate is normally lower than the component duty rate. Also, you don’t even need to pay components duty when you re-export the finished product.

Beside the benefits mentioned above, there are other potential savings if you are doing international businesses, like avoiding duties on imported materials that become scrap, and possible administrative savings and efficiencies.

FTZ in Chicago

Chicago is a good place to make your firms go global, it has a large FTZ, covering Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Will, Grundy and Kankakee county. Any companies that ship good outside of the U.S in this area can apply to be one of the site (member) of this FTZ and are able to enjoy the benefits. Expect you need to apply to be one of the eligible company of this FTZ, to begin your manufacturing and oversea shipment, you also need to get your production authorized.

Site Application & Production Authorization

If you want to enjoy the benefit from FTZ, you may want to pay attention to the procedure of applying to be the official site of the FTZ by both the zone grantee and CBP, and getting your production authorized. If you are in Chicago, you can look up Illinois International Port District (www.iipd.com) for more information about Chicago international trading.

TEIL devotes to help our clients go global by helping you make the best decision. Feel free to contact us to move your business toward a global market.