A Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) is a federally designated area located geographically within the United States, yet considered “outside” of U.S. Custom’s territory for the purposes of assessing and collecting import duties and taxes. The FTZ expedites and encourages foreign commerce, promotes domestic employment and assists U.S. firms in competing within the global marketplace.

Baltimore’s Foreign Trade Zone #74 consists of over 2,000,000 square feet of non-contiguous industrial and warehouse space. Centrally located, the Baltimore FTZ is a gateway to the East Coast offering immediate access to a major deep-water port, an international airport, interstate highways and rail transportation.

Is your business located within FTZ #74? Click here for map.

Merchandise may be admitted into the FTZ for operations involving testing, sampling, storage, exhibition/display, manipulation, destruction, assembly, re-labeling, re-packaging, mixing, cleaning, salvaging, repair, manufacturing, and processing of materials without being subject to formal customs entry procedures and payment of duties, unless and until the foreign merchandise enters the customs territory for domestic consumption (the U.S. market).

The FTZ provides companies with flexibility and heightened control over cash flow and time constraints. If your business involves international trade, locating your operations in the FTZ can result in substantial savings.

Significant advantages to operating within the FTZ include:

• Deferral of customs duties and federal excise tax on imports.
• Exemption from duties or quota charges on re-exports.
• Potential exemption from stringent labeling and other rigorous U.S. Customs requirements.
• Ability to exhibit, test or repair products manufactured overseas and return to foreign markets without paying duty.
• Ability to ship imported materials between FTZ’s in the U.S. without paying duty.
• No duty on waste products destroyed in the zone.
• Inverted tariff benefit if manufacturing results in a finished product with a lower duty rate than the rates on foreign inputs – meaning, the finished product can enter the U.S. domestic market at the rate applicable to its condition as it leaves the zone.
• Access to streamlined customs procedures (e.g. “weekly entry” or “direct delivery”).
• Potential site eligibility for other state and local benefits.

For more information about Baltimore’s FTZ, contact the Director of Foreign-Trade Zone #74, Elizabeth Weiblen.