WASHINGTON and QUINCY, Wash., June 6, 2011 — The U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones Board recently issued Order No. 1764, which approves the reorganization and expansion of the Service Area of Foreign Trade Zone 203 under the "Alternative Site Framework" plan to now include the Port of Quincy and the greater Quincy, Washington area.
As a result of this order, companies or businesses wanting to locate in the Port of Quincy can now get approved to use the FTZ in 30 days or less.
Foreign Trade Zones were created in the United States to provide special customs procedures to U.S. plants engaged in international trade-related activities. Duty-free treatment is accorded items that are processed in FTZs and then re-exported, and duty payment is deferred on items until they are brought out of the FTZ for sale in the U.S. market. This helps to offset customs advantages available to overseas producers who compete with domestic industry.
By now being included in FTZ 203, a company that locates within the Port of Quincy will be able to realize the following benefits or advantages if it uses the FTZ program:
- FTZs are considered to be outside of U.S. Customs Territory for the purpose of customs duty payment.
- Goods entering FTZs are not subject to customs tariffs until the goods leave the zone and are formally entered into U.S. Customs Territory. Merchandise that is shipped to foreign countries from FTZs is exempt from duty payments. This provision is especially useful to firms that import components in order to manufacture finished products for export.
- There is no time limit on goods stored inside a FTZ and certain foreign and domestic merchandise held in FTZs may be exempted from state and local inventory taxes. This allows firms to minimize their costs while their products are waiting to be shipped. In addition, quota restrictions are in some cases waived for items entering an FTZ.
- A variety of activities can be conducted in an FTZ, including assembling, packaging, destroying, storing, cleaning, exhibiting, re-packing, distributing, sorting, grading, testing, labeling, repairing, combining with foreign or domestic content, or processing.
Quincy, Washington has become a leading small community in North America for attracting global companies such as Microsoft, ConAgra Foods, Yahoo, National Frozen Foods, Intuit, Quincy Foods (Norpac), Dell, Columbia Colstor International, Sabey, Stemilt, Oneonta, etc.
One of the key reasons that many major companies are attracted to Quincy is because of the exceptional infrastructure, including: plentiful, low-cost and green hydroelectric power; unsurpassed fiber optics availability and capacity; abundant supply of water; an ideal location on the Seattle-Chicago main line of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway; and close proximity to Interstate 90 and the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma.
On a related note, the Port of Quincy also has a state-of-the-art intermodal terminal and rail cargo handling facility on the BNSF mainline. The Intermodal Terminal includes over 10,000 feet of track and a container maintenance and cleaning facility with nearly 1 million square feet of cold storage warehousing in close proximity to provide shippers with distribution, cross-dock and storage capacity in and out of the Washington state.
Additionally, the Port of Quincy Intermodal Terminal is home to the Pacific Northwest-Chicagoland Express "Cold Train" which recently celebrated its successful one-year anniversary (http://refrigeratedtrans.com/carriers-shippers/cold_train_intermodal_marks_one_year_anniversary_0405/). The Cold Train's success of shipping both inbound and outbound cargo has effectively turned the Port of Quincy Intermodal Terminal into a key distribution hub for the central Washington area.
Furthermore, a 2010 national site selection study, which compared the cost of operating a manufacturing facility among 45 small market cities in the U.S., named Quincy, Washington "The Best in the West." See the below media links regarding the recent study:
Stated Port of Quincy Chair Curt Morris, "We are excited about the international trade and economic development benefits that are now available to businesses locating within the Port of Quincy as a result of being included in the Service Area of Foreign Trade Zone 203. The FTZ will be able to immediately serve sites or businesses located in the Quincy Port District through an expedited process."
For more information, please contact Curt Morris of the Port of Quincy at Email or 509-214-7696.
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