The Foreign-Trade Zine is the eMagazine of the Foreign-Trade Zone community. Each month, we cover local, national, and international news that affects FTZ operators, users, and Grantees. We also catalog Federal Register notices published by the Department of Commerce so you can keep abreast of the activity in the program across the country. Ready to get started? Send an email with the subject line “Subscribe” to FTZine@iscm.co.
December 1, 2025
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
November 11, 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
October 1, 2025
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
September 3, 2025
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 Now the Supreme Court will have the final say if U.S. reciprocal tariffs stay in place as they are, or need to be rescinded with monies refunded.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
August 5, 2025
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
June 25, 2025
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 […]
June 3, 2025
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. […]
April 30, 2025
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 […]
April 1, 2025
March Madness: It used to be a basketball tournament. Maybe they still play. Bet you were busy last month too. But for sure it describes March U.S. tariff changes, and the effort international traders are putting in to try and keep this thing afloat. A Rose Garden ceremony is planned today to unveil the reciprocal tariffs that have been the […]
March 3, 2025
Time To Push Your Head Back On: International traders know just what it feels like to be a Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robot. Last month was just one punch after another. First they had to add 10% to China. Then 25% on steel and aluminum, including derivatives. Now 25% on everything from Canada and Mexico. Plus another 10% on China. […]
February 4, 2025
T-Day: A lot can happen in two weeks. But not usually this much. Since January 20th a new President has been sworn in and signed over 75 Executive Orders. A 4-hour trade war was fought and won over immigration. Trade wars with Canada and Mexico lasted 4 days before a 30-day truce was negotiated in each. An escalation in the […]
January 6, 2025
Diffusing A Primary Weapon: Welcome Back! The FTZ’ine Staff hopes all our readers enjoyed a safe and happy holiday season. Now where to begin the New Year? Your federal government is still functioning thanks to a last-minute spending bill approved right before Congress went on recess. It did so without an agreement on spending policy. That is not new news: […]
