Editor’s Note: With the new installment this week about foreign trade zones, titled “Foreign Trade Zones, Function and Purpose,” we take a closer look at the competitiveness of locally operated companies that have gone global.
Foreign Trade Zones, Function and Purpose
Presented by W. Steven Olinek, executive director, Greater Detroit Foreign-Trade Zone Inc.
Learn how your company can defer or eliminate duties paid on foreign imports by listening to this audio interview with W. Steven Olinek, executive director, Greater Detroit Foreign-Trade Zone (GDFTZ). GlobalAutoIndustry.com and GlobalBusinessProfessor.com have produced this 12-minute interview that details how the GDFTZ fosters competitiveness of locally-based global companies by providing cost savings on duties.
In the interview, Olinek defines foreign-trade zones, describes the role of the GDFTZ and details benefits for global businesses. The types of industries that benefit from the program are identified, as well as information on how to determine if FTZ status would result in cost savings for your company. Listen to the interview here.
Since 1990, Olinek has managed the GDFTZ, whose mission it is to help create employment and foster the global engagement and competitiveness of companies in its grant area by providing cost savings in the form of duty deferral, remission and elimination. These services are marketed to regional industries and economic-development agencies.