Manufacturing is at the heart of the U.S. foreign-trade zone program, and many of the program’s benefits are designed to keep American factories busy building the products we buy, right here at home. Today, manufacturers working with Georgia Foreign-Trade Zone employ more than 8,600 workers in their operations and receive more than $2.5 billion of merchandise annually under the umbrella of the program.

Iconic brands like Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation and Eastman Kodak work closely with Georgia Foreign-Trade Zone, as does Roper Corporation – a subsidiary of GE Appliances – Ricoh Electronics, and Kubota North America Corporation. These businesses and many others recognize that the program offers robust financial benefits in the form of duty deferral and reduction as well as supply chain optimization. With features like direct delivery, manufacturers can immediately take possession of the merchandise they need to keep factory floors active and leave the paperwork for another day. Further, by locating manufacturing centers closer to consumers, brands become more reliable, responsive and agile in meeting the needs of their customers.