Anons,

Have there been any digs on Foreign Trade Zones (FTZs)?

I remember listening to an interview with Jim Willie ages ago in which he claimed that there are 100s of FTZs in the US, from which the Chinese operate. With all the nonsense going down in CA, esp Long Beach (which is run by a Chinese firm) I decided to go have a dig around. This is what I found:

There are indeed 100s of FTZs in the US (list is here: http://ia.ita.doc.gov/ftzpage/letters/ftzlist-map.html - immediate jump outs are the 4 in CA and 1 in Little Rock - needs eyes on this - will dig later). The first FTZ was established in New York in 1934, but nothing much happened until 1950 when the restrictions on manufacturing were lifted. Since then their usage has grown exponentially.

So what are the benefits of operating in an FTZ?

"Some of the benefits that are most attractive to companies are relief from inverted tariffs, duty exemption on re-exports, duty elimination on waste, scrap and yield loss, savings on damaged or nonconforming items, weekly entry savings, cash flow (duty deferral) savings, zone-to-zone transfers, government and military sales, and ad valorem tax relief.

Companies often find that the integration of a variety of FTZ benefits and procedures enables them to maximize their savings and minimize their operational costs at each point in their FTZ distribution or manufacturing processes."

Source: https://www.ftzcorp.com/foreign-trade-zone-benefits.aspx

This is a long-winded way of (not) saying that goods can be imported from abroad into an FTZ without paying taxes. Raw materials may be imported and assembled into finished goods without paying taxes. If said goods are then exported again, no taxes are paid. Partially assembled goods may be shipped between FTZs without taxes being paid. Taxes only become due when an item leaves an FTZ and enters the US.

Reading further, I discovered that the principle of FTZs exist in many countries, esp China (think Shanghai). This international network of FTZs now underpins global trade and was created as the foundation upon which TTIP was to be built. In other words, massive Cabal fuckery abounds - you know how they hate paying taxes. FTZs also serve to undermine the WTO, and cancel out the benefits of trading under WTO rules.

Let's look at Long Beach (see pic).

"The Port of Long Beach operates Foreign Trade Zone 50 (FTZ-50), covering Orange County, western San Bernardino County and most of Los Angeles County. Qualifying businesses in FTZ-50 can reduce costs by deferring, reducing and potentially eliminating customs duties.

Under the Port of Long Beach's program, any qualified business within the boundaries of FTZ-50, which includes Orange County, western San Bernardino County and most of Los Angeles County, can apply to have its existing building designated as an FTZ site."

Source: http://www.polb.com/economics/ftz/establishingoperations.asp

What I don't know (yet) is what regulations exist around the import and export of materials into/out of FTZs. I suspect that as no taxes are paid, stuff can move about in an unregulated fashion. This will also be the case when moving between FTZs. We've been told that Long Beach is important - this discovery sets the alarm bells ringing big time.

The other big takeaway thought is human trafficking. Unregulated movement of goods between FTZs is a great way of shipping human cargo. And as no-one expects people to be moving about in shipping containers, getting them out of an FTZ is likely to be a piece of piss. I've lost count of the number of times I've been asked to show a pass on the way into a government establishment, but waved out without a check on exit.