The Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) Program is a federal program administered by the U.S. Foreign Trade Zones Board, a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

A foreign-trade zone is a designated location in the United States where companies can use special customs procedures that help encourage U.S. activity and value added – in competition with foreign alternatives – by allowing delayed or reduced duty payments on foreign merchandise, as well as other savings.

A site which has been granted zone status may not be used for zone activity until the site has been separately approved for FTZ activation by local U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials, and the zone activity remains under the supervision of CBP. FTZ sites and facilities remain within the jurisdiction of local, state or federal governments or agencies.

The Grantee for the Mesa FTZ is the City of Mesa and the program is administered by the Office of Economic Development. The Mesa FTZ is located at the Mesa Gateway Airport.  An FTZ Subzone can be designated in another Mesa location when a company is unable to operate effectively at the existing zone site.

FTZ BENEFITS

• Duty Exemption - No duties or quota charges on re-exports.

• Duty Deferral - Customs duties and federal excise tax deferred on imports.

• Inverted Tariff - In FTZ manufacturing, imported inputs can have higher duty rates than the finished product to be entered into U.S. commerce. The FTZ Board may allow the manufacturer to apply the lower finished-product duty rate to the foreign inputs.

• Logistical Benefits. Companies using FTZ procedures may have access to streamlined CBP procedures (e.g. "weekly entry" or "direct delivery").

• Property Tax Benefit. Arizona provides a lower assessment ratio for activated foreign trade zone or subzone sites. Activated sites are eligible for a property tax reclassification benefit that changes the activated property to a Class 6 property, which carries a 5% assessment ratio. The reclassification may result in up to an approximately 73% reduction in real and personal property taxes.

• Other Benefits. Foreign goods and domestic goods held for export are exempt from state/local inventory taxes.

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