FTZ’ine April 2025
April 1, 2025
FTZ’ine June 2025
June 3, 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 of international traders everywhere. But then the Chinese Government said no such talks have taken place. Now how should FTZ Operators and Users answer questions from the boss?
Commerce Secretary Lutnick announced that the first trade agreement has now been reached to settle reciprocal tariffs. It’s a start.
Customs is working diligently to get ACE ready for the end of duty-free de minimus entries from China. FTZ Users have recently experienced ACE slowdowns and it is not clear if the surge in formal entries that will start tomorrow will degrade ACE response times.
Foreign-trade zone applications are up. Way up. The new tariffs (and several news stories) are highlighting the role the program can play in soothing bruised international supply chains. Attending the CBP Trade Summit next week? Join your colleagues for an all-FTZ photograph at 12:30 near the registration desk on May 6th. See you there!
Top Story: Will Downturn Bring Foreign-Trade Zones Tariff Relief?
1 down, 89 to go.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Lutnick announced yesterday that a deal had been reached with one of the ninety countries seeking to make a deal with the United States in order to avoid ‘reciprocal’ tariffs. He is not yet ready to announce what country the deal was with, or what terms have been agreed to.
The Administration may be running out of time to extract concessions from U.S. trading partners in exchange for a reduction in the new tariffs. The U.S. economy shrank at a 0.3% annual pace from January through March, the first drop in three years.
This latest economic data puts unwanted pressure on the Trump administration as it tries to strike deals to lower barriers to U.S. exports.
The contraction in the U.S. Department of Commerce gross domestic product (GDP) figures for the first three months of 2025 were led by a 5.1% decline in government spending.
Economists were expecting the GDP to have grown 0.4% for the first three months of 2025, compared with an increase of 2.4% in the fourth quarter of 2024. The surprise shows just how broad the impact of the tariffs was to the U.S. economy. The surge in imports as companies in the United States tried to beat the implementation of the new tariffs shaved 5 percentage points off first-quarter growth. Consumer spending also slowed sharply. Federal government spending plunged 5.1%.
But business investment rose at a 21.9% clip as companies poured money into equipment in the U.S.
And a category within the GDP data that measures the economy’s underlying strength rose at a healthy 3% annual rate from January through March, up from 2.9% in the fourth quarter of 2024. This category includes consumer spending and private investment but excludes volatile items like exports, inventories and government spending.
Clearly the tariffs are having desired and undesired impacts on the economy. FTZs want to know how long the tariffs, especially those for China, will remain in effect. On this point the trade got completely different signals from the two sides.
The Chinese government flatly denied President Trump’s claim in a Time Magazine article that Xi Jinping, China’s leader, called him to discuss trade. The President told Time last week that he had in fact had a conversation, although U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has become a point person on trade negotiations, told ABC’s “This Week” that he wasn’t aware of whether the two leaders had spoken.
Tech Tip: Will Foreign-Trade Zones Get ACE'd Out?
Yesterday U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a message stating “Please be advised that CBP is aware of delays with all EDI processing. . . Development teams are reviewing the issues and monitoring the processing queues.”
Such events could become more frequent if ACE is not prepared to handle a flood of entries, with payment and the associated verifications, that will accompany tonight’s end to duty-free de minimus entry from China and Hong Kong.
Goods subject to trade remedy tariffs (e.g., Section 201, 232, or 301) are also being excluded from the de minimis exemption, regardless of the country of origin.
Many express shipments may still be cleared through manifest procedures now in place, but CBP could require formal entry through ACE for any postal package.
Importers will be required to provide more comprehensive information, including 10-digit HTS codes, country of origin, and detailed product breakdowns.
The need to collect additional information, and on more types of shipments, could mean FTZ users and other importers could soon find themselves stuck behind ACE processing delays for the additional data volume.
On average, CBP processes over 4 million de minimis shipments per day.
Questions about how the changes to de minimus processing will affect your FTZ? Contact us at info@iscm.co.
Tidal Wave of Applications Hits FTZ Board
The new reciprocal tariffs, and reciprocal tariff announcements, have a lot of folks in international trade busy. That includes the staff of the U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones Board.
Staff cases are up a whopping 43% through the beginning of 2025, when compared to the same time period in the previous five years.
Staff cases are those that can be processed without input from the U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones Board itself.
This primarily includes Minor Boundary Modifications under the Alternative Site Framework, but also includes terminations and Traditional Site Framework subzone applications where the Grantee has agreed to absorb the subzone acreage into its existing activation limit.
The 51st State Votes To Stay Independent
At the beginning of the week, Canadians voted to return Mark Carney to the Office of Prime Minister. While his opponent had been viewed as more closely aligned with President Trump, Carney ran on a platform clearly defiant of calls to append the country to the United States.
Carney had been the Prime Minister on an interim basis after the resignation of Justin Trudeau.
In their first call since the election, President Trump congratulated Carney on his victory, according to the Prime Minister's office on Tuesday.
The office also said the two leaders had "agreed on the importance of Canada and the United States working together – as independent, sovereign nations – for their mutual betterment".
Carney faced a challenge from Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievrer. While ousting Poilievrer, Carney’s Liberal Party did not win an outright majority in the election.
That means the Liberals will need to rely on the support of other parties to pass legislation through the House of Commons. The Liberals also face possible defeat in any vote of confidence in the chamber.
The split will make Carney’s job of negotiating cross-border trade with the U.S., and tackling a range of domestic issues, more of a challenge. Carney did not sound like he needed any support to resist U.S. overtures to become the next star on the flag.
“We are over the shock of the American betrayal,” Carney said, according to The Guardian, as he pledged to reshape Canada’s relationship with other countries. "But we will never forget the lessons,” he added. That attitude could make Canadian trade negotiations as sticky as the maple syrup.
FTZs Wary of Million Dollar Dock Fee and HMF Proposal
Early last month President Trump issued an Executive Order designed to invigorate U.S. shipbuilding while trying to curb China’s stronghold over the global shipping industry.
“We’re way, way, way behind,” said the President, speaking in the Oval Office. “We used to build a ship a day, and now we don’t do a ship a year, practically, and we have the capacity to do it.”
The Order gives the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) the go-ahead for its proposal of levying million-dollar U.S. port docking fees targeted at ships belonging to a fleet that includes Chinese-built or flagged vessels. However, the final fee structure will not be identical to USTR’s original proposal, according to USTR Jamieson Greer.
“This could have been a miscommunication issue; some people thought that all of those measures would be imposed,” Greer said. “Now we consider which of those measures is most appropriate.”
USTR revised the plan originally proposed whereby Chinese-built vessels calling on the U.S. would be charged $3.5 million each time they docked at a US port. The updated rule proposes that docking fees will be determined by the weight of cargo on board, as opposed to the number of US port calls.
The revised fees will also be assessed up to five times a year and can be waived if the owner instead orders a US-built ship, reported The Guardian.
USTR may also consider proposing tariffs on dockside cranes and other cargo handling equipment. Some of the measures outlined will require legislation before they can be installed.
The April 9th Executive Order also directs Customs and Border Protection to enforce Harbor Maintenance Fees (HMF) at Mexican and Canadian land ports to prevent attempts by cargo carriers to circumvent HMF by unloading at Canadian or Mexican ocean ports.
China’s Foreign Ministry condemned the order with Ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, asserting that: “The development of China’s shipbuilding industry is the result of technological innovation and active participation in market competition by enterprises.”.
Major Chinese ports operator COSCO Shipping opposed US accusations of China’s alleged malpractice in the shipbuilding and logistics industry.
“We firmly oppose the accusations and the subsequent measures,” COSCO Shipping said. “Such measures not only distort fair competition and impede the normal functioning of the global shipping industry but also threaten its stable and sustainable development.”
FTZ Staff Activity
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-66-2025) in FTZ 107H on behalf of Helena Industries LLC, Des Moines, IA on March 26, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-67-2025) in FTZ 32 on behalf of Wireless Next, Inc., Miami, FL on March 25, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-68-2025) in FTZ 29R on behalf of UPS Supply Chain Solutions, Inc., Fairdale, KY on April 8, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-69-2025) in FTZ 186C on behalf of Molnlycke Health Care, Portland/Brunswick/Wiscasset, ME on March 31, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-70-2025) in FTZ 1G on behalf of Kuehne + Nagel, Inc., Jamaica, NY on April 1, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-71-2025) in FTZ 94 on behalf of Kuehne + Nagel, Inc., Laredo, TX on April 1, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-72-2025) in FTZ 32 on behalf of Tecnotropolis, LLC, Doral, FL on April 2, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-73-2025) in FTZ 32 on behalf of Millenium Natural Systems, LLC, Doral, FL on April 2, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-74-2025) in FTZ 94 on behalf of P&P Global Logistics, LLC, Laredo, TX on April 2, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-75-2025) in FTZ 50 on behalf of GPA Logistics Group, Inc., Fontana, CA on April 7, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-76-2025) in FTZ 71 on behalf of REM Sales, LLC dba Tsugami America on April 4, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-77-2025) in FTZ 272F on behalf of Lutron Electronics Co., Inc., Allentown, PA on April 4, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-78-2025) in FTZ 281 on behalf of CEVA Freight, LLC, Medley, FL on April 7, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-79-2025) in FTZ 230 on behalf of RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company, Winston-Salem, NC on April 7, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-80-2025) in FTZ 79H on behalf of Lithium Battery Company, Tampa, FL on April 8, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-81-2025) in FTZ 105F on behalf of North Atlantic Distribution, North Kingstown, RI on April 8, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-82-2025) in FTZ 31 on behalf of Solvay Flourides, LLC, Cahokia Heights, IL on April 8, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-83-2025) in FTZ 50 on behalf of Mega Tex Logistics, LLC, Long Beach, CA on April 8, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-84-2025) in FTZ 50 on behalf of Clipper Corporation, Carson, CA on April 8, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-85-2025) in FTZ 32 on behalf of Techstar, LLC, Miami, FL on April 9, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-86-2025) in FTZ 32 on behalf of Okura USA, Inc. dba Nippon America Group on April 9, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-87-2025) in FTZ 32 on behalf of World Truck Parts, LLC dba FORTPRO on April 9, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-88-2025) in FTZ 193C on behalf of Lithionics Battery, LLC, Clearwater, FL on April 10, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-89-2025) in FTZ 50 on behalf of Rialto Pacific, LLC on April 10, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-90-2025) in FTZ 1 on behalf of Vestas-American Wind Technology, Inc. on April 10, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-91-2025) in FTZ 50 on behalf of DSV Solutions LLC, Fontana, CA on April 10, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-92-2025) in FTZ 281 on behalf of Asecomer International Corporation dba Interworld Freight, Inc., Miami, FL on April 11, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-93-2025) in FTZ 18 on behalf of Halo Industries, Inc., Santa Clara, CA on April 14, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-94-2025) in FTZ 47G on behalf of Cummins Filtration Inc. aka Atmus Filtration Technologies, Walton, KY on April 14, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-95-2025) in FTZ 32 on behalf of PD Water Systems, LLC, Hialeah, FL on April 15, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-96-2025) in FTZ 32 on behalf of P&L Business Solutions, Inc. dba TOTALYNK on April 15, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-97-2025) in FTZ 32 on behalf of 3NStar, Inc., Doral, FL on April 15, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-98-2025) in FTZ 32 on behalf of Shalbaf LLC dba Parktel USA, Doral, FL on April 15, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-99-2025) in FTZ 126 on behalf of Fracht FWO, Inc., Sparks, NV on April 15, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-100-2025) in FTZ 99 on behalf of All Season Power, LLC, New Castle, DE on April 16, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-101-2025) in FTZ 89 on behalf of Crocs, Inc., North Las Vegas, NV on April 16, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Minor Boundary Modification (S-102-2025) in FTZ 1 on behalf of GKD Import/Export (USA), LLC on April 22, 2025
- FTZ Board Staff processed a processed a Traditional Site Framework Minor Boundary Modification (S-103-2025) in FTZ 18G on behalf of Tesla, Inc., Lathrop, CA on April 22, 2025
Foreign-Trade Zone Board Activity
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- Rohr, Inc. submitted a notification of proposed production activity for aircraft products within Foreign-Trade Zone 82J in Foley, Alabama. MORE
- AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP submitted a notification of proposed production activity for additional components of pharmaceutical products within Foreign-Trade Zone 177A in Mount Vernon, Indiana. MORE
- Logitech submitted a notification of proposed production activity for audio, visual, and gaming equipment within Foreign-Trade Zone 29 in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. MORE
- Northern Mississippi FTZ, Inc. received approval to expand the Alternative Site Framework service area of Foreign-Trade Zone 262 to include Lafayette, Marshall, Panola and Tate Counties, Mississippi. MORE
- Logitech submitted a notification of proposed production activity for audio, visual, and gaming equipment within Foreign-Trade Zone 50 in Ontario, California. MORE
- LMFAKRO, LLC submitted a notification of proposed production activity for wooden attic stair products within Foreign-Trade Zone 20 in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. MORE
- RECARO Aircraft Seating Americas, LLC submitted a notification of proposed production activity for aircraft seats within Foreign-Trade Zone 196 in Fort Worth, Texas. MORE
- The Port of Iberia District did not receive approval to establish a new Foreign-Trade Zone under the Alternative Site Framework in Iberia Parish, Louisiana. MORE
- Merck, Sharp & Dohme LLC submitted a notification of proposed production activity for pharmaceutical products for research and development within Foreign-Trade Zone 49Y in Rahway, New Jersey. MORE
- SSI Shredding Systems, Inc. submitted a notification of proposed production activity for industrial shredders and compactors within Foreign-Trade Zone 45J in Wilsonville and Portland, Oregon. MORE
- ZF Transmissions Gray Court LLC submitted a notification of proposed production activity for electric and automatic vehicle transmissions within Foreign-Trade Zone 38K in Gray Court and Fountain Inn, South Carolina. MORE
- Rincon Power, LLC received approval to operate their Carpinteria, California facilities as Foreign-Trade Zone 205C. MORE
- Sanofi US Services Inc. received authorization of production activity for additional components of pharmaceutical products within Foreign-Trade Zone 49Z in Ridgefield, New Jersey. MORE
- Century Arms, Inc. received approval to operate their Georgia, Vermont facilities as Foreign-Trade Zone 55C. MORE
- Unimacts Company received authorization of production activity for steel products within Foreign-Trade Zone 265 in Conroe, Texas. MORE
- GoPro, Inc received authorization of production activity for camera bundles within Foreign-Trade Zone 29 in Louisville, Kentucky. MORE
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 of international traders everywhere. But then the Chinese Government said no such talks have taken place. Now how should FTZ Operators and Users answer questions from the boss?
Commerce Secretary Lutnick announced that the first trade agreement has now been reached to settle reciprocal tariffs. It’s a start.
Customs is working diligently to get ACE ready for the end of duty-free de minimus entries from China. FTZ Users have recently experienced ACE slowdowns and it is not clear if the surge in formal entries that will start tomorrow will degrade ACE response times.
Foreign-trade zone applications are up. Way up. The new tariffs (and several news stories) are highlighting the role the program can play in soothing bruised international supply chains. Attending the CBP Trade Summit next week? Join your colleagues for an all-FTZ photograph at 12:30 near the registration desk on May 6th. See you there!