Utah News Dispatch
Utah looks to expand its Foreign Trade Zone statewide under new direction
Salt Lake City leaders announce the transfer of the municipality’s Foreign Trade Zone grantee authority to World Trade Center Utah. Pictured from left to right, Salt Lake City Council member Victoria Petro; World Trade Center Utah CEO Jonathan Freedman, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and Director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity Jefferson Moss. (Alixel Cabrera/Utah News Dispatch)
Salt Lake City announced a move that may allow more Utah businesses that conduct international transactions to reduce or eliminate federal duties — transferring its Foreign Trade Zone grantee authority status to World Trade Center Utah, a private nonprofit that provides global markets tools to Utah enterprises.
That’s an action that’s expected to bring more stability and certainty to the state’s businesses aiming to navigate shifting global markets, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said at a Tuesday news conference.
“It reflects our shared belief that the Foreign Trade Zone can, and really should recruit more businesses, it should more effectively reach more businesses across the state of Utah, not just here along the Wasatch Front,” Mendenhall said.
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The list of counties eligible to become a part of the secure areas include Davis, Morgan, Salt Lake, Utah and Weber. Dozens of other cities outside of that area can also participate in the program. However, World Trade Center Utah’s vision is a zone that allows every region in the state to enroll.
As new international tariffs come into consideration under the Trump administration, this change represents a “stability tool,” Mendenhall said.
“Stability is money, and there’s been a great deal of instability in international markets for varying reasons in this climate,” she said. “And this is a well-established stability tool that now has an even broader reach in the state of Utah because of the World Trade Center’s relationships and jurisdiction.”
The Foreign Trade Zones Board approved the authority status transfer last October, saying that “the proposal is in the public interest.”
Utah’s sole Foreign Trade Zone was established during former Salt Lake City Mayor Ted Wilson’s administration in 1977, allowing some businesses to reduce or defer international trade duties. It was the 30th to be created in the country.
Since then, the Foreign Trade Zone program has extended to about 300 areas across the U.S. and, according to Mendenhall, 15 Utah companies are either actively operating within the zone, or seeking federal approval to do so.
About 100 more are in the pipeline, said Jonathan Freedman, president and chief executive officer of World Trade Center Utah, who described the program as a “wonderfully unique solution in a time of great uncertainty for businesses.”
“We started discussing this almost two years ago. This was long before tariffs were mentioned. But as it turns out, we are uniquely positioned as a partnership here to offer something that’s very valuable to Utah businesses,” Freedman said. “The mayor mentioned uncertainty, and this is a piece that is certain.”
As the new grantee, World Trade Center Utah will walk companies through the process of qualifying, and will provide cost-benefit analyses for free to expand the accessibility of the program, Freedman said.
One of the nonprofit’s goals in the new role is to work with the federal government to expand the program statewide. Freedman said that would take time, but his team is determined to make it happen.
