FTZ’ine October 2025
October 1, 2025
Where's The Beef?
Argentina, apparently. Finally, the White House sees imports as a solution to the Nation’s problems.
The Nation’s rising food prices problem, that is.
With costs continuing to climb at the supermarket, consumers are wondering if the President's injection of Argentine imports can bring relief. The U.S. cattle industry has a beef with that.
A trade framework negotiated with China last month could also help reduce consumer prices, and ease supply of critical rare earth materials. U.S. soybean exports should begin to recover as well.
This week, the government shutdown will stretch to the longest in U.S. history. But neither side appears ready to blink. Operations at the Foreign-Trade Zones Board and many other agencies are at a complete standstill.
Arguments at the Supreme Court regarding the President’s imposition of tariffs under IEEPA start this week. Make sure CBP knows where to send your refund. Just in case.
Will This China Deal Hold?
After two days of negotiations with Chinese International Trade Representative Li Chenggang in Malaysia, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that a “framework” of a deal had been reached between the two countries. President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping then met in South Korea to formalize the new agreement, which includes a 10% reduction in U.S. duties on Chinese merchandise.
The new provisions go into effect on November 10th. Among the key concessions of the deal are Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural products and a halt to retaliatory measures against American semiconductor firms.
The Administration outlined several immediate benefits expected from the deal. First is the easing of supply chain constraints tied to rare earth metals and magnets. These minerals are essential for manufacturing electronics, batteries, and defense technologies. China controls roughly 70 percent of the world's supply.
The White House announced a one-year moratorium on additional trade impediments as part of the agreement. The deal also reduces uncertainty around semiconductor imports and exports.
Farmers stand to gain from a promise to purchase U.S. soybeans and other agricultural commodities.
The agreement’s broader impact on tariff rates will also influence FTZ usage. Although the deal only reduces tariffs by 10%, it includes a framework to avoid the previously threatened 100% tariffs on Chinese goods.
Grantees will find this reprieve may reduce the urgency for companies to shift operations into FTZs solely for tariff deferral.
The U.S.-China trade agreement offers a mixed outlook for foreign-trade zone users. While tariffs are only reduced by 10% from current levels, they are intended to be stable for 12 months. This creates a more predictable environment for zone users to optimize operations and manage costs.
Tech Tip: Electronic Bill Payments To Become Mandatory For PMS
Last month, we wrote that CBP has enabled signing up for electronic refunds through the ACE Portal. During the shutdown, refunds of any type, including drawback, are postponed. Refund processing was last completed on Tuesday, September 30th, but interest will continue to accrue on unpaid amounts.
Now CBP has turned its attention to electronic payment of supplemental bills. CBP issued a message to Periodic Monthly Statements (PMS) users that they must start transmitting electronic payments for any supplemental duty bills resulting from an underpayment of estimated duties, taxes, and fees attributable to entries originally paid via PMS.
PMS participants must pay related supplemental duty bills by either ACH Debit or ACH Credit. ACH Debit payments will be submitted directly via Treasury’s pay.gov system using the CBP Bill Payments form.
To pay by ACH Credit, participants need to contact ACH-CUSTOMS@cbp.dhs.gov to obtain specific instructions. Electronic payment will become operational on December 15, 2025.
Questions about how to prepare for electronic bill payment to CBP? Contact us at info@iscm.co.
Continued Shutdown Blanks FTZ Approvals
After a flurry of Minor Boundary Modification approvals at the end of September, no new sites or subzones were reviewed by the Department of Commerce after the federal shutdown began on October 1st.
A handful of notices did work their way into the Federal Register (see below) in October, including the first approval of a Production Notification in a while. Unfortunately, authority for the main component requested was not approved. Hopefully that is not the start of a trend.
That left Grantees, Operators, and Users wondering when government operations will return, and what the application timelines and norms will be when they do.
The House bill to extend federal expenditures only extended government funding to November 21st. So under any circumstances the House would need to be back at work right before the holiday. Any new bill would open the door to changes in a new CR, which could give them the negotiating room to break the impasse.
Neither side is budging so far though.
There is still a list of items that might force an agreement between the parties, including military paychecks, air traffic control paychecks, and AGOA expiration. All have caused grumbling but no one has jumped yet.
And while the White House Office of Management and Budget had told federal agencies to implement reduction-in-force plans, that talk has since died down. A group of unions representing federal workers sued the Trump administration over the memo, which may have scrapped those plans.
FTZs Watch Pivot To Imports With Wonder
Imports to the rescue. Didn’t we know this would happen?
Droughts across the United States have forced ranchers to shrink their cattle herds, causing beef prices to rise. Ground beef prices in the United States have increased by about 15 percent this year, to a record high of nearly $7 per pound. This prompted the President to consider buying beef from Argentina to bolster supplies and curb rising prices.
The idea contradicts current policy to encourage domestic production. It also suggests that the President agrees that in some cases, open markets can be an antidote to rising prices.
“We would buy some beef from Argentina,” President Trump said to reporters aboard Air Force One. “If we do that, that would bring our beef prices down.”
The notion of importing more beef is already causing backlash in rural America.
Cattle ranchers in the United States believe that beef is priced fairly here and that the Trump administration should not be suppressing prices with imports that they view as low-quality.
“This plan only creates chaos at a critical time of the year for American cattle producers, while doing nothing to lower grocery store prices,” said Colin Woodall, chief executive of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
Argentina accounts for about 2 percent of U.S. beef imports. They are limited by a tariff quota, which triggers an additional tax when the import cap is exceeded.
Justin Tupper, president of the United States Cattlemen’s Association, said that buying beef from Argentina, which does not have the same quality safeguards as the United States, was a “horrible idea.” He warned that meat processors would mix the cheaper imported beef with American beef to lower prices, and argued that a pound of ground beef was no more expensive than a high-end coffee drink.
This would not be the first time the President used imports to contain inflation. Earlier this year, he looked to South Korea and Turkey to supply eggs as prices in the United States surged.
Experts note that Argentina cannot rapidly ramp up exports to the U.S. due to production constraints and regulatory hurdles. According to Cornell University livestock specialist Adam Murray, it would take at least two years for Argentina to significantly increase supply to the U.S. market. This delay undermines the plan’s potential to address current price spikes.
Foreign-Trade Zones Watch Layoffs Gain Momentum
Bellwether U.S. employers like Starbucks, Target, Amazon, UPS, Paramount and Molson Coors have independently cut jobs this year. When considered together, the trend has some economists worried this could be a warning sign for the economy.
The size and pace of layoffs suggest managers are more broadly losing their fear of firing, emboldened by AI gains and a generally softening hiring market.
From tech giants to logistics firms, companies are shedding tens of thousands of jobs, citing automation, restructuring, and global uncertainty.
Amazon, one of the largest employers in the U.S., announced 14,000 layoffs in October, primarily targeting roles in operations and support functions. The company attributed the cuts to its aggressive pivot toward AI-driven efficiencies and robotics, which are reshaping its logistics and customer service models. Similarly, UPS revealed a staggering 48,000 layoffs, including 14,000 management positions, as it restructures to streamline operations and reduce costs.
The automotive sector has not been spared. General Motors laid off over 200 salaried employees, mostly CAD engineers, as part of a broader effort to consolidate engineering functions and reduce overhead. These cuts come amid declining demand for traditional vehicles and increased investment in electric and autonomous technologies, which require different skill sets and leaner production models.
In the tech industry, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle continued trimming their workforces. Meta’s layoffs are part of its ongoing “year of efficiency,” while Microsoft’s reductions affected Azure and LinkedIn divisions. Oracle’s cuts targeted cloud and hardware teams, reflecting a shift toward subscription-based services and AI integration. These moves underscore a broader trend: tech firms are prioritizing profitability and innovation over headcount expansion.
Retail and consumer goods companies are also feeling the squeeze. Nike and Starbucks announced layoffs to refocus on direct-to-consumer strategies and digital transformation. These layoffs suggest that even resilient sectors are not immune to macroeconomic headwinds.
Reduced consumer spending—an inevitable consequence of widespread job losses—could dampen imports, especially in discretionary categories like electronics, apparel, and luxury goods. Export-oriented economies may feel the pinch as U.S. demand softens, potentially leading to trade imbalances and renegotiations of the new bilateral agreements.
Foreign-Trade Zone Board Activity
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- The Port of New Orleans received approval to expand the service area of Foreign-Trade Zone 2 to include St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. MORE
- Halo Industries, Inc. received authorization of proposed production activity for semiconductor wafers within Foreign-Trade Zone 18R in Santa Clara, California with a restriction that a separate application for unfinished silicon carbide wafers must be submitted and approved before the component may be used under FTZ procedures. MORE
No Cake And Ice Cream Yet:
It was another month of dynamic trade developments for the foreign-trade zone community. While there is cause for optimism that trade terms will stabilize soon, too much remains unsettled to do any celebrating just yet.
Negotiations with China resulted in a temporary pause in the sky-high rates FTZs had been paying on their imports. But recent rhetoric from Washington suggests the pause won’t last past the 90 days of the agreement. If it even lasts that long.
The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that the use of IEEPA to place a 10% additional tariff on all imports overstepped presidential authority. The IEEPA tariffs are still being collected until higher courts make a final ruling. The financial stakes are HUGE for both sides.
An investment deal in U.S. Steel prompted the doubling of Section 232 tariffs on imported steel and aluminum beginning this Thursday. Nothing on the table suggests those 50% rates will be reduced anytime soon. Zones need to prepare accordingly.
Foreign-trade zone applications are down. Way down. Staff losses at the Foreign-Trade Zones Board and the loss of the NPF status option appear to be taking their toll. Bonded Warehouse applications? Still overwhelming CBP in certain ports.
