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Sheldon Hall at SUNY Oswego will be the site of a free information session, Wednesday, Nov. 20, from 10:00 a.m. to Noon, for local businesses to share the advantages of working with a foreign trade zone (FTZ), said William, Scriber, POA executive director and CEO.
FTZs are land areas within the United States that are legally considered outside of the United States Customs and Border Protection Agency’s authority. Merchandise can be imported to these zones and allow companies to save time and money on duties, tariffs and production costs.
The session is a joint presentation by the POA, which is also an FTZ, Operation Oswego County, the Onondaga County Office of Economic Development, (OCOED) the Greater Oswego-Fulton Chamber of Commerce, and SUNY Oswego. OCOED oversees Onondaga County’s umbrella Foreign Trade Zone 90, (FTZ 90) which serves Oswego, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Madison counties.
The two-hour session will be held in the Sheldon Hall Ballroom at SUNY Oswego, 301 Washington Blvd., Oswego and parking is free in the lot directly across Washington Blvd. The format will feature an explanation and overview of what an FTZ is, 20-minute presentations by local FTZ authorities and clients, and it will wrap with a 30-minute Q&A panel discussion. Anyone interested in attending can register at: https://bit.ly/4f8CmLZ. Speakers will include Scriber, Leonard Rauch, senior economic development specialist, Onondaga County Office of Development/FTZ 90, Cindi Kavanaugh, senior consultant, Mohawk Global Trade Advisors, and Robert Stein, vice president, Braumiller Consulting Group.
“We’re delighted to team up with our strategic partners to share this valuable information on FTZs that offer so many benefits to our local businesses,” said Austin Wheelock, executive director, Operation Oswego County. “We hope that anyone who wants to know more about what an FTZ is and how they can take advantage of them will join us.”
“In an FTZ, businesses pay no duty while in an FTZ until products are released for consumption,” Scriber said. “This helps cash flow because there is no outlay for duty while they are being stored, and in most cases, when goods are sold after FTZ storage, the seller will have cash in-hand before releasing them. FTZs allow for no duties and federal excise taxes to be paid until a finished product is brought from the FTZ to the domestic market territory or a North American Free Trade agreement ( NAFTA), country.
“But that’s only the beginning. Goods can be stored in an FTZ indefinitely, as opposed to a bonded warehouse that has a time limit. Those goods are not subject to quota restrictions and can be entered into U.S. commerce at any time. In addition, if goods become obsolete or pass expiration while in an FTZ, they can be destroyed without paying any duty on them.
”Other advantages include streamlining logistics. After merchandise has been approved from Customs, imported goods may be directly delivered into the zone. Also, FTZs give a company the opportunity to closely track their inventory. When goods are brought into a FTZ warehouse like the Port of Oswego, the company is able to identify and manage them instead of being under Customs control.”
Scriber also explained that for businesses that haven’t been able to justify the upfront costs for applying for an FTZ, there would now be a savings by using the Port’s FTZ or FTZ 90 and bypass those costs.
“With Micron entering the picture, there would be an advantage for them to store imported raw materials or equipment at the Port’s FTZ and defer the duty,” Scriber said. “Hypothetically, if Micron also established itself as an FTZ, the Port and Micron could do a zone-to-zone transfer of equipment without paying any Duty. Duty would only be collected once the equipment is actually manufacturing product. Again, this defers upfront costs and helps cash flow.”
Leonard Rauch, OCOED senior economic development specialist, explained that another advantage FTZs offer is that companies can also establish manufacturing operations within an FTZ, and any scrap or byproducts would not be subject to duty fees. Businesses can use the FTZ 90 savings calculator to do analysis at: https://www.ongoved.com/foreign-trade-zone-90/. “We want to be a conduit to the Port of Oswego and other zone partners for business growth and expansion,” Rauch said. Rauch can be contacted at LenRauch@ongov.net, 315-435-3726.
According to the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones, there are 191 active FTZs in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. More than 3,200 companies currently utilize the program.
