Friday, May 22, 2009

FTZ Board Grants Michelin North American Authority for FTZ #50 Subzone Status

In a notice published in the Federal Register on May 20, the Foreign-Trade Zones Board granted authority for subzone status for activity related to tire warehousing and distribution at the Michelin North America, Inc. facility located in San Bernardino, California, as requested by the Board of Harbor Commissioners of the Port of Long Beach, grantee of FTZ #50. The application was formally filed on May 28, 2008.

The FTZ Board adopted the findings and recommendations of the examiner's report and found that the requirements of the FTZ Act and the board's regulations were satisfied and that approval of the application was in the public interest. The subzone status is subject to the FTZ Act and the board's regulations.

To view this article, please visit Export Industry News.

Expansion Sought for Louisiana's FTZ #124

An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board by the Port of South Louisiana, grantee of FTZ #124, requesting special-purpose subzone status for the barite milling facility of Excalibur Minerals LLC, located in New Iberia, Louisiana. It was formally filed on May 6, 2009.

The Excalibur facility is used for activities related to the milling (heating, grinding, crushing), storage and distribution of ground barite, primarily for the US market. The material that would be purchased from abroad is raw barite, dutiable at $1.25 per metric ton.

FTZ procedures could excempt the company from customs duty payments on the foreign component used in export production. The company anticipates that less than 1% of the plant's shipments will be exported. On its domestic sales, Excalibur would be able to choose the duty rate during customs entry procedures that applies to the ground barite (duty free) for the foreign input noted above. FTZ designation would further allow Excalibur to realize logistical benefits through the use of weekly customs entry procedures, as well as savings from the elimination of duties on materials that become scrap/waste during manufacturing. The application indicates that the FTZ-related savings would help improve the facility's international competitiveness.

To read more, please visit Import Industry News.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

GM Plans to Export Cars from China to the US

General Motors (GM) is planning to build cars in China and import them into the United States, a strategy that could trigger further job losses and union anger in the US. This plan to shift a greater proportion of the struggling car maker's production overseas is still being negotiated with US politicians, who have already lent GM $15.4 billion in order to keep it afloat and safeguard its 90,000 US workers.

However, a spokesman for GM in Shanghai said it was "only a matter of time" before vehicles made in China are imported into the company's home market, in another blow to the US car industry. After losing $6 billion in the first quarter, GM has slashed its global production by 900,000 vehicles. Around 13 assembly plants will be affected by shutdowns in the US. The company have a June 1 deadline to complete a restructuring or follow Chrysler into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

To read more, please visit the Telegraph.

FTZs Help Companies Save Millions During Touch Economic Times

While no one likes difficult and tough economic down cycles, periods like the one we're in now serve the useful purpose of helping companies increase their focus on business process improvement--for example, by exposing inadequate global trade processes in order to improve them. Global trade, despite the current downturn, is in a long-term growth cycle. Combined U.S. imports and exports increased from under $100 billion in 1968 to nearly $3.5 trillion dollars in 2008--with almost half that total growth occurring in the last decade.

Given this reality, it's critical that business executives and global trade directors leverage current economic challenges to create fast and significant international trade process improvements, carefully investing limited capital in those areas where it can get the biggest bang for the buck. One excellent way to do this is by taking advantage of the U.S. Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) program. “Foreign-Trade Zones can save U.S. importers millions of dollars and will often improve the speed of the supply chain,” explains Tommy Berry, President and CEO of PointTrade Services.

To read the full article, visit the Utah Pulse.