The Alliance Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) No. 196 was ranked as the top General Purpose Foreign-Trade Zone in the United States, in terms of the value of foreign goods admitted, according to the Annual Report of the Foreign-Trade Zones Board just released to the U.S. Congress.
In the fiscal year 2010, the Alliance FTZ admitted more than $4 billion in foreign products, a 36 percent increase compared with 2009. This is the fourth time in five years the Alliance FTZ has received the top U.S. ranking.
Companies that contribute to foreign products in the Alliance FTZ include: Cinram, Hyundai, LEGO, Motorola, GENCO ATC, Callaway Golf and Alliance Operating Services. According to an Alliance news release, about 80 percent of the product received into the Alliance FTZ in 2010 arrived from China, with 12 percent coming from South Korea and 8 percent from Denmark. Additional countries of origin included Mexico, Taiwan, the Philippines and Thailand.
Much of the product is received into the West Coast ports of L.A./Long Beach and remains within U.S. Customs and Border Protection bonded status as it travels to BNSF Railway’s Alliance Intermodal Facility at the Alliance Global Logistics Hub. The materials are transported to an FTZ-designated facility, where they can be inventoried, assembled, labeled, kitted, exported or destroyed.
“The Alliance Foreign-Trade Zone continues to experience tremendous growth because of the substantial, and increasing, presence of global companies at AllianceTexas and in the surrounding region,” said Steve Boecking, vice president of Hillwood Properties, the developer of AllianceTexas. “Regional efforts to strengthen international relationships and to build new global trade partnerships have also resulted in an increased volume of foreign goods being shipped through North Texas.”