Incentives
Foreign-Trade Zone
Foreign-Trade Zone
Nearly 1,800 acres of prime industrial/commercial properties are located within the Washington County, Maryland Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ). Buildings and sites are available for development with an array of amenities including: rail, airport runway access, superior interstate visibility, municipal water and sewer, and natural gas.
What is a FTZ?
FTZs are sites designated by the Foreign-Trade Zones Board in which special United States Customs Service procedures may be used. These procedures allow domestic activity involving foreign items to take place prior to formal Customs entry. Duty-free treatment is accorded items that are reexported and duty payment is deferred on items sold in the U.S. market.
A Few FTZ Benefits...
For more information about the FTZ Program or Washington County's FTZ, contact:
Hagerstown-Washington County Economic Development Commission 240-313-2280 edcinfo@hagerstownedc.org
- Imports may enter and be held in a FTZ without Customs duties. Duty is paid only when those imports are shipped into U.S. Customs territory.
- Customs duties are not paid on merchandise reexported from a FTZ.
- Duties are not owed on labor, overhead or profit attributed to FTZ production operations.
- FTZ users can pay the duty rate on component material or merchandising produced from component material, whichever is lower.
- No duty is owed on in-bound zone-to-zone transfer of FTZ merchandise.
- Tangible personal property held in an FTZ for export is not subject to state and local taxes and ad valorem taxes.
- Materials used/consumed in FTZ processing are generally not subject to duties.
Click here for FTZ locations in Washington County.
Other FTZ Resources:
- National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones www.naftz.org
- U.S. Department of Commerce www.commerce.gov
- U.S. Customs & Border Protection www.customs.ustreas.gov