Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) Savings Calculator

Estimate annual savings from operating in a US Foreign Trade Zone. Duty deferral cash flow benefit, duty elimination on waste/scrap, MPF savings from weekly entry, and manufacturing drawback.

Quick answer: FTZ savings come from: duty deferral (cash flow on deferred duties), duty elimination on foreign-origin waste/scrap, reduced MPF through weekly vs daily entries, and inverted tariff relief. Large importers save $50K–$500K+ annually.

🏭 Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) Savings Calculator

Annual Duty Payments ($)

Avg Inventory Dwell in FTZ (days)

Duty is deferred until goods leave the FTZ

Cost of Capital / WACC (%)

Current Daily Entry Count

FTZ weekly entry: consolidate into 1 entry/week

MPF Per Entry ($)

Merchandise Processing Fee min $27.23, max $575.35 (2024)

Waste/Scrap as % of Import Value

Manufacturing waste eligible for duty elimination in FTZ

Total Annual FTZ Savings

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Duty Deferral Savings

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MPF Entry Savings

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How to Use This Calculator

Enter annual duty payments — total duties paid to CBP per year.
Set dwell days — average days imported goods sit in your warehouse before entering US commerce — duties deferred for this period.
Enter daily entry count — FTZ weekly entry consolidates into one entry per week, saving MPF on all but one entry.
Add waste percentage — for manufacturers — waste and scrap generated from foreign inputs can exit the FTZ duty-free.

Worked Example

$500K annual duties, 45-day dwell, 10% WACC, 5 entries/day, $575 MPF, 3% waste.

Deferral savings: $500K × 10% × 45/365 = $6,164
Current entries/yr: 5 × 260 = 1,300
MPF savings: (1,300 − 52) × $575 = $717,600
Waste savings: $7.14M import value × 3% × 7% avg duty = $14,994
Total: $738,758/year

MPF savings dominate for high-entry-count importers — $717K at 5 entries/day. FTZ activation typically costs $25K–$75K one-time. Payback in weeks. Any US importer with 200+ annual entries should evaluate FTZ utilization.

Frequently Asked Questions

An FTZ is a designated area in the US where foreign goods can be stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured without paying customs duties until the goods enter US commerce. FTZs are located near ports and manufacturing centers. They're administered by local operators under CBP oversight. There are over 250 active FTZ sites in the US.

Normally, each customs entry incurs Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) of 0.3464% of value (min $27.23, max $575.35). An FTZ operator can file one weekly entry covering all shipments that week, paying only one MPF maximum of $575.35 regardless of volume. For importers with multiple daily entries, this alone can save hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.