May Day: Economic data released yesterday by the U.S. Department of Commerce confirmed that the U.S. economy contracted in the first three months of 2025. It usually takes two quarters of contraction in a row before economists consider the trend a recession. The Trump administration reported that it was discussing a reduction in tariffs with China, much to the relief […]

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. […]

Careful What You Wish For: You can add possible U.S. involvement in the war in the Middle East to the list of factors that drove economic uncertainty in June. With more reciprocal tariffs scheduled to implement soon, even the Federal Reserve said that they could not accurately predict the economic outcome of all the factors in play. Thus the central […]

Deals Start Rolling In: Completion of trade deal negotiating took longer than promised, but last month a number of countries agreed to terms that raised U.S. import tariffs and reduced barriers faced by U.S. exporters. Despite the highest U.S. tariff rates in almost 100 years, Wall Street has celebrated the clarity created by the deals with new stock market highs

One Down, One To Go: The first appeal of the lawsuit challenging President Trump’s IEEPA tariffs ended in favor of the plaintiffs. Now the Supreme Court will have the final say if U.S. reciprocal tariffs stay in place as they are, or need to be rescinded with monies refunded. There are many options left to the Administration to replace the

One Battle After Another: Leonardo DiCaprio has a new movie out about working in international trade. We haven’t had time to see it yet, but the reviews are pretty good. Maybe we should all go see it together? To highlight just a few of the battles the FTZ community is waging right now: September began with a 50% tariff levy

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

Nickel For Your Thoughts: Well, it used to be a penny. But we don’t make pennies anymore. The U.S. ended production of the penny in November. When it was first introduced in 1793, a penny could actually buy something: a biscuit, a candle or a piece of candy. Now pennies will transition to treasured collector’s items. The government is back

Nickel For Your Thoughts: Well, it used to be a penny. But we don’t make pennies anymore. The U.S. ended production of the penny in November. When it was first introduced in 1793, a penny could actually buy something: a biscuit, a candle or a piece of candy. Now pennies will transition to treasured collector’s items. The government is back