The Alliance Foreign-Trade Zone #196 has been expanded to include the entire Alliance corridor, including property along both sides of Interstate 35 West from Denton to just south on Interstate 820 in Fort Worth.
The zone, which already ranks as the top general purpose Foreign-Trade Zone in the U.S. in terms of the value of foreign goods admitted, was expanded under the approval of the U.S. Department of Commerce Foreign Trade Zone Board, which accepted an expansion application from Alliance Corridor Inc., the Hillwood subsidiary that oversees the trade zone. In 2009, the Department of Commerce board decided to allow the expansion of FTZ areas in order to expedite the approval process for companies within the zone.
“This expansion streamlines the process for companies that want to take advantage of the significant savings that being in a Foreign Trade Zone can bring,” said Hillwood Properties Vice President Steve Boecking, who oversees the Alliance Foreign Trade Zone #196 and provides advisory services to companies within the zone, in a release. “Previously, a company had to go through the process of being annexed into the zone then the process of applying for foreign trade zone status. Now the company is considered to be within the FTZ Grantee’s designated service area, so the entire application process for FTZ status is reduced from six months to approximately 30 to 45 days.”
Major users of Zone #196 at the Alliance Global Logistics Hub include ATC Logistics & Electronics, Callaway Golf Company, Hyundai, Trans-Trade, LEGO and Motorola. For three years straight, the zone has ranked as the top general-purpose Foreign-Trade Zone in the U.S. in terms of foreign products admitted; in 2008, $5.357 billion in foreign products were admitted into the Alliance Foreign-Trade Zone.