Are you sick of reading about tariffs all the time?  Are you tired of having to answer questions about tariffs?  Are you frustrated about having to explain how the FTZ doesn’t prevent all tariffs? 

We might be tired of hearing, and talking, about tariffs.  But, in Washington, D.C., there are a lot of topics garnering the spotlight.  So, NAFTZ is tirelessly raising awareness about how the PF status admission restriction for U.S. FTZs has had unanticipated impacts to operations and asking the Administration to change it. 

We know that U.S. FTZs were created to incentivize investment in U.S. value-add operations.  The goals of the program are the same as the goals of the Administration – increased manufacturing in the U.S., highly-skilled jobs for Americans, and global competitiveness for U.S. operations.  But some in Washington have the erroneous perception that it is a loophole to promote imports.  And we need your help to show all the many ways this perception is wrong.

One grantee told NAFTZ staff recently, “Our city has used the U.S. FTZ program to attract businesses strategically.  The result is that we’ve added nearly 10,000 new jobs in the last 10 years, and the average wage in our area has increased from $54,000 to $109,000.”  Some of these new operations are companies that were manufacturing elsewhere that are now manufacturing in the U.S. for the first time.  This growth took time, and it is due, in part, to the U.S. FTZ program helping companies be cost-effective and globally competitive while manufacturing in the U.S.  

We need your specific examples to draw attention to the U.S. FTZ impact and to help Congress and the Administration understand the important role the program plays in the U.S. economy. 

• If you are a U.S. manufacturing operator, you can use this template to tell how PF restrictions are impacting your ability to be competitive: MANUFACTURING TEMPLATE
• If you are a U.S. distribution operator, worried about what happens to tariffs on your PF-status on=-hand inventory should future trade deals lower or eliminate the trade remedy tariffs, use this template to tell your story: DISTRIBUTION TEMPLATE
• If you are a grantee with stories of the success of the U.S. FTZ program in your area and/or cautions about slowing of growth in your area due to tariffs, use this template to lend your voice to our efforts: GRANTEE TEMPLATE

If your company can make a call to your Congressional members instead, these templates can serve as a call script.  Or contact our Director of Advocacy, Melissa Irmen, at mirmen@naftz.org for talking points.

If you want to share your story anonymously, as we did with the city impact story above, let us know! NAFTZ can help tell your story while keeping your company private.

 If you need other resources, or to have someone talk with your company’s government affairs group to educate them on your U.S. FTZ story, tell Melissa, at mirmen@naftz.org.  We’ll set up a call at your earliest convenience.

We are making progress, and there is strength in our numbers.  Help us add your voice!