Foreign-Trade Zones vs. Bonded Warehouses: A Guide for Latin American Exporters Shipping to Florida, Georgia and Alabama
If you export to the U.S. Southeast, you will sooner or later ask whether your goods should enter U.S. commerce right away or wait in a Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) or a CBP-bonded warehouse. Both let imported goods sit in the United States without paying duty first. They are different legal tools, with different rules on how long goods can stay, what can be done to them and who files the paperwork. This guide explains both, lists the 27 FTZs in Florida, Georgia and Alabama, and says plainly what the sources we reviewed do not cover.
Sources checked 8 and 9 October 2026. Tariff measures and zone details change; confirm anything that affects a shipment with a licensed customs broker, the zone operator or CBP.
The short version
A bonded warehouse lets you store dutiable goods for up to five years from the date of importation and pay duty only when they are withdrawn for U.S. use. A Foreign-Trade Zone is a secure area under CBP supervision that is generally treated as outside U.S. customs territory for entry purposes once CBP has approved its activation; goods may stay indefinitely, and manufacturers can elect the duty rate of the foreign inputs or of the finished article. A zone is sponsored by a grantee and run by an operator under agreement with it, and production in a zone needs FTZ Board authorization. In both cases, the entry that brings the goods into U.S. commerce must be filed by someone entitled to make it.
FTZ and bonded warehouse at a glance
| Foreign-Trade Zone | Bonded warehouse | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | Foreign-Trade Zones Act of 1934 (19 U.S.C. 81a-81u); 15 CFR Part 400 (FTZ Board); 19 CFR Part 146 (CBP) | 19 U.S.C. 1555 and 1557; 19 CFR Part 19 |
| What it is | Secure area under CBP supervision, generally outside U.S. customs territory for entry purposes once activated | Buildings or parts of buildings (and, by class, yards, tanks or bins) that CBP designates for storing imported merchandise entered for warehousing |
| When duty is paid | When goods move into U.S. customs territory for consumption; goods can be exported from a zone free of duty | When goods are withdrawn for U.S. consumption; goods that are exported do not owe the U.S. duty |
| How long goods can stay | Indefinitely | Up to 5 years from the date of importation (not the date of entry), unless the port director extends it for good cause |
| What can be done | Storing, examining, sampling and exhibiting; production only with FTZ Board authorization; no retail sale of foreign merchandise | Depends on the class: for example, Class 8 covers cleaning, sorting and repacking (not manufacturing), Class 6 covers manufacturing for export, Class 9 covers duty-free stores |
| Who is involved | A grantee sponsors the zone, an operator runs it under agreement, users work under agreement with the grantee or operator; CBP must approve activation before goods are admitted | A proprietor runs the CBP-approved warehouse; the importer files a warehouse entry |
| Bonds | The operator holds the bond with CBP | The importer needs a CBP Form 301 bond on file for the entry; the proprietor has a separate custodial bond |
How a zone works
Goods admitted to a zone carry one of four statuses: privileged foreign, nonprivileged foreign, domestic or zone-restricted. Privileged foreign status is applied for on CBP Form 214 when the goods are admitted (or later, before they are manufactured in a way that changes their tariff classification) and cannot be abandoned once granted. A manufacturer can elect the duty rate of the foreign inputs or of the finished article. No retail trade of foreign merchandise is allowed in a zone.
Which goods must enter a zone in privileged foreign status
- Antidumping and countervailing duty items. Items subject to AD/CVD orders, or that would be subject to suspension of liquidation, must be placed in privileged foreign status on admission to a zone (15 CFR 400.13(c)(2)).
- Section 301 (China). In its notices on proposed production activity, the FTZ Board states that the applicable Section 301 decisions require merchandise to be admitted to zones in privileged foreign status (for example, FTZ Board notice B-41-2020, 85 Federal Register 39163, 30 June 2020).
- Section 232 steel. Proclamation 10896 (February 2025) requires steel articles and derivatives admitted to a zone from 12 March 2025 to be admitted in privileged foreign status, unless eligible for domestic status.
These are the rules in the documents we reviewed. Later proclamations or CBP guidance can change them, so check the current measure for your product before you plan around a zone.
What you cannot do
- In a zone: no retail trade of foreign merchandise. Alcohol, tobacco, firearms and sugar products generally cannot be manufactured there. Quota goods cannot use a zone to get around a quota. The FTZ Board can exclude merchandise it considers harmful to the public interest, health or safety (15 CFR 400.13(b)).
- In a bonded warehouse: merchandise whose importation is prohibited cannot be warehoused, except for export or for manipulation that makes it eligible for U.S. consumption. Domestic merchandise, and goods already entered for consumption, generally cannot be entered for warehousing, with limited exceptions.
Who files, and can a foreign exporter be the importer?
For a bonded warehouse, only the owner or purchaser of the goods, or a licensed customs broker designated by the owner, purchaser or consignee, may file the warehouse entry; the proprietor cannot file for someone else unless it is a licensed broker. For consumption entries in general, a nonresident corporation must have an agent in the state of the port who can accept service of process and must file a CBP Form 301 bond with the conditions in 19 CFR 113.62 (19 CFR 141.18). For entries from a zone, the regulation refers to “the person making entry” (19 CFR 146.63).
What we could not confirm: none of the FTZ Board and zone documents we reviewed says whether a foreign company may be a zone user or operator. Ask the zone operator, and ask your broker who will be the importer of record, before you build a shipping plan around either option.
Costs
CBP’s Bonded Warehouse Manual (HB 3500-11, January 2012) says the Merchandise Processing Fee is due when withdrawal documents are submitted, and that the Harbor Maintenance Fee is 0.125 percent of cargo value for commercial cargo loaded or unloaded from a vessel at certain ports. The manual is more than a decade old, so confirm current rates with CBP. We did not find a source that publishes zone fees; each zone’s operator sets its own, so ask for its fee schedule and we state no amounts here.
FTZs in Florida, Georgia and Alabama
The FTZ Board’s directory lists 27 zones in these three states: 19 in Florida, 3 in Georgia and 5 in Alabama. Nationally, the Board’s 86th Annual Report (calendar 2024) counts 199 active zones, with nearly US$964 billion in shipments into zones, about 67 percent of them domestic-status merchandise, and more than US$133 billion in exports from zone operations. Grantees and port assignments can change; confirm the current details with the FTZ Board or the zone before you rely on them.
| State | Zone | Grantee | Location | Port of entry (as listed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FL | 25 | Broward County | Broward County | Pt. Everglades |
| FL | 32 | Greater Miami Foreign-Trade Zone, Inc. | Miami | Miami |
| FL | 42 | Greater Orlando Aviation Authority | Orlando | Orlando |
| FL | 64 | Jacksonville Port Authority | Jacksonville | Jacksonville |
| FL | 65 | Panama City Port Authority | Panama City | Panama City |
| FL | 79 | City of Tampa c/o Tampa Port Authority | Tampa | Tampa |
| FL | 135 | Port of Palm Beach District | Palm Beach County | West Palm Beach |
| FL | 136 | Canaveral Port Authority | Brevard County | Port Canaveral |
| FL | 166 | Vision Foreign-Trade Zone, Inc. | Homestead | Miami |
| FL | 169 | Manatee County Port Authority | Manatee County | Port Manatee |
| FL | 193 | Pinellas County Economic Development | Pinellas County | St. Petersburg |
| FL | 198 | The County of Volusia | Volusia County | Daytona Beach Airport |
| FL | 213 | Lee County Port Authority | Fort Myers | Fort Myers Airport |
| FL | 215 | Sebring Airport Authority, Sebring Regional Airport | Sebring | Port Manatee |
| FL | 218 | St. Lucie County | St. Lucie County | Fort Pierce |
| FL | 241 | City of Fort Lauderdale | Fort Lauderdale | Pt. Everglades |
| FL | 249 | Pensacola-Escambia County Promotion & Development Commission | Pensacola | Pensacola |
| FL | 250 | Sanford Airport Authority | Seminole County | Orlando-Sanford Airport |
| FL | 281 | Miami-Dade County | Miami-Dade County | Miami |
| GA | 26 | Georgia Foreign Trade Zone, Inc. | Atlanta | Atlanta |
| GA | 104 | World Trade Center Savannah, LLC | Savannah | Savannah |
| GA | 144 | Brunswick and Glynn County Development Authority | Brunswick | Brunswick |
| AL | 82 | City of Mobile | Mobile | Mobile |
| AL | 83 | Huntsville-Madison County Airport | Huntsville | Huntsville |
| AL | 98 | City of Birmingham | Birmingham | Birmingham |
| AL | 222 | Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce | Montgomery | Birmingham |
| AL | 233 | Dothan-Houston County Foreign Trade Zone, Inc. | Dothan | Panama City, FL |
Source: FTZ Board Online FTZ Information System (OFIS) zone directory, read 8 October 2026.
Practical steps
- Find the zone or warehouse near your U.S. port. Use the table above for zones; for bonded warehouses, ask your broker or freight forwarder, because proprietors are CBP-approved facilities.
- Contact the grantee or operator. Users work in a zone under agreement with the grantee or operator, and CBP must approve activation before goods are admitted.
- Decide who will be the importer. The owner or purchaser, or a licensed customs broker acting for them, files the entry. A nonresident corporation needs a U.S. agent and a CBP Form 301 bond to make a consumption entry.
- Check the tariff status of your product against the privileged-foreign list above before choosing a zone.
- Plan the exit. Goods leave either into U.S. commerce, where duty is paid, or by export.
Next steps with Orbis Management
If you are preparing your first shipments, these resources are the closest to this topic: our Guía de Cumplimiento para Importar a los EE.UU. (Edición 2026) and our Guía Definitiva y Calculadora Interactiva de Incoterms 2020. For country data, see our imports-to-U.S. data packs for Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Questions about your market-entry plan?
Orbis Management helps Latin American exporters selling to the U.S., and U.S. businesses entering Latin America, assess markets, partners and incentives. Use the button below or visit our Contact page to discuss your situation.
Sources
- CBP: About Foreign-Trade Zones and Contact Info
- CBP: Bonded Warehouse Manual for CBP Officers and Bonded Warehouse Proprietors (HB 3500-11, January 2012)
- eCFR: 19 CFR 19.1, classes of customs warehouses
- 19 CFR 141.18, nonresident corporations
- 19 CFR 146.41, privileged foreign status and 19 CFR 146.63, entry for consumption from a zone
- 15 CFR 400.13, restrictions on zone activity
- FTZ Board: OFIS zone directory
- FTZ Board: The U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones Program, Information for CBP
- FTZ Board: 86th Annual Report to Congress, calendar year 2024
- Federal Register, 30 June 2020: FTZ Board notice B-41-2020 (FTZ 22, proposed production activity), Section 232 and Section 301 privileged foreign status
- Federal Register, 18 February 2025: Proclamation 10896, Adjusting Imports of Steel into the United States
Disclaimer: The content provided in this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, investment, or trade policy advice. Please consult with qualified professionals regarding your specific commercial operations.