Tri-City Regional Port District: 1959-2009

FOREIGN TRADE ZONE #31

Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) #31 is licensed to the Tri-City Regional Port District. An FTZ is an area (typically a warehouse) that is deemed by the US Customs Department to be outside of the US Customs territory. Products may be imported from other countries and placed directly in the foreign trade zone. While in the foreign trade zone, the product may be handled, assembled, packaged or destroyed. The primary benefits include the delay, reduction or elimination of payment of the import duty associated with that item. These typically are called general-purpose zones.

FTZ #31 has been in use since the 1970s and has handled a multitude of imported products.

The Port District currently has two subzones in place. A subzone is typically a manufacturing facility not located at the general-purpose zone. The subzone is established to accommodate the manufacturing facility’s needs to assemble or manufacture imported components, without requiring that facility to relocate to a general-purpose zone.

In 2004, the Port District expanded its foreign trade zone area by nearly 5,000 acres taking in all of the River’s Edge Industrial Park, nearby Gateway Commerce Center and St. Louis MidAmerica Airport.