The U.S. Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) program, which was founded in 1934, exists to encourage foreign commerce in the United States by allowing special customs-related benefits to businesses locating their international operations within a U.S. FTZ. FTZ 50, which is administered by the Port of Long Beach (POLB), was recently approved for the Alternative Site Framework, or ASF. The new FTZ 50 ASF will be managed as a ‘service area’ that encompasses more than 1.6 million acres and includes a large part of Los Angeles County, all of Orange County, and part of San Bernardino county (see map here).

FTZ benefits under the ASF include:

• Lowered duty rates
• Better ability to manage cash flow
• No duty on scrap or damaged goods
• No duty on domestic value added activity
• No duty on exports (alternative to duty drawback)
• Substantially reduced paperwork and administrative costs

Another benefit of the FTZ 50 ASF is that usage-driven sites can now be established using a quick and simple minor action rather than the full reorganization/expansion application that used to be required. As a result, the FTZ Board application process, which used to take as long as 12 months, could now take as few as three (3) months.

For more information on FTZ 50 and the Alternative Site Framework, contact an LBITO Trade Manager. If you are interested in applying for FTZ designation, please contact Larry Ditchkus, FTZ 50 Manager, by email at Ditchkus@polb.com or by phone at 562.283.7450. For a list of FTZ consultants who are active in Southern California, click here.