The U.S. foreign-trade zones program was created by the Foreign-Trade Zones Act of 1934 during President Franklin D. Rooseveltās administration. It was amended in 1950 under Harry S. Trumanās administration and really came into play with global trade in 1984 under the Reagan administration. Today, there are over 230 foreign-trade zone projects and nearly 400 sub zones in the United States, all within or adjacent to the ports of entry. Every state has at least one port of entry, and there are 314 ports of entry categorized by 19field operations offices which they report to. These FTZs are there to eliminate and/or reduce tariff burdens on the importation of foreign inputs and on exported finished products. The cost savings can be substantial relevant to: duty exemption, duty deferral, duty reduction, invited tariff, merchandise processing fee, streamlined logistics, quota avoidance, and direct delivery. BLG has experts regarding the establishment and administration of FTZs.
