SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
FOREIGN TRADE ZONES
Untapped strategy
FTZ advocacy education fosters program understanding
By Jeffrey J. Tafel, CAE
For more than 90 years, the United States Foreign-Trade Zones program has helped companies and communities support trade, investment, supply chain efficiency and competitiveness. Yet, for many businesses and policymakers, foreign-trade zones( FTZs) remain one of the most valuable but least understood elements of the US trade infrastructure.
At its core, this program allows approved sites within the United States to be treated, for customs purposes, as located outside of American customs territory. Merchandise may be admitted to a zone and handled under federal supervision. Duties are generally paid when goods enter US commerce, but goods exported from a zone may avoid US customs duties altogether.
This is just one piece of the overall value provided by the program.
For companies, these US-located zones can provide operational flexibility, duty management, inventory control and a structured compliance environment. They can support business attraction, retention, expansion and job creation, benefiting communities at large. On the national scale, US foreign-trade zones impact the economy by helping domesticbased operations compete in a global marketplace while maintaining a strong customs and compliance framework. www. joc. com August 3, 2026 | Journal of Commerce 41