Foreign Trade Zones (FTZs) are
secured areas under the supervision of Customs and Border Protection
where Customs entry procedures do not apply, although FTZs are
within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States. The main
advantage of FTZs is that cargo is admitted without being subject to
Customs duties or certain excise taxes. Importers are able to only
pay the applicable duties and taxes at the time the goods enter into
the commerce of the United States. Other benefits include:
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Merchandise may remain in an FTZ indefinitely, whether or not it is
subject to duty.
§
Merchandise imported from outside the United States and held in a
zone for the purpose of storage, sale, exhibition, repackaging,
assembly, distribution, sorting, grading, cleaning, mixing, display,
manufacturing, or processing, and merchandise produced in the United
States and held in a zone for exportation, either in its original
form or altered by any of the above methods, is exempt from State
and local ad valorem taxes.
§
Customs security requirements and federal criminal sanctions are
deterrents against theft. This may result in lower insurance costs
and fewer incidents of loss for cargo imported into an FTZ.
§
Merchandise entered into the U.S. on an entry for warehousing,
temporary importation under bond, or for transportation and
exportation may be transferred to a foreign-trade zone from the
Customs territory to satisfy a legal requirement to export the
merchandise.
Samuel Shapiro & Company, Inc. can
help you understand the complex FTZ environment, while ensuring that you
are taking advantage of all the benefits that it has to offer.
Our Import Team has considerable experience with filing FTZ entries,
and therefore, you can count on timely clearances with no penalties
or errors.
Please contact our Compliance Team at
compliance@shapiro.com for more information about our FTZ
Services.
