As tariffs increase and constraints grow, FTZ continues to be an important tool for managing costs and supply chain.
In 2025 FTZ #176 included 11 activated operators:
- Bergstrom Inc., in Rockford, Winnebago County
- Brake Parts, in McHenry, McHenry County
- Capitol Warehousing, in Belvidere, Boone County
- Cellusuede Products Inc., in Rockford, Winnebago County
- Chicago Importing Company, in Huntley, McHenry County
- Coilcraft, Inc. in Princeton, Bureau County (new in 2025)
- Medela LLC in McHenry, McHenry County (new in 2025)
- Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas, in Marengo, McHenry County
- PCI Pharma Services, in Rockford, Winnebago County
- Rivian Automotive LLC, in Mount Morris, Ogle County
- Staal & Plast, in Sycamore, DeKalb County
In 2025 we welcomed two new FTZ operators: Coilcraft, Inc. and Medela LLC.
Economic indicators showed relatively stable to moderate year over year growth, with continued growth across the 5-year Compound Annual Growth Rate (2020 – 2025) for all metrics:
- 15% increase in employment
- 25% increase in the total value of shipments from FTZs
- 8% increase in total exports from FTZs
Operators reported these zone benefits*:
- “The FTZ has allowed the company to use our specialty raw material to be more competitive selling the finished product in the US.”
- “FTZ status has allowed our company to be competitive with our overseas competition by reducing costs.”
- “The benefits realized from having FTZ status has helped our company to maintain American jobs by levelling the playing field against foreign competitors. The re-boxing and breakdown of parts and part kits allows the company to conduct this activity in the United States using domestic facilities and workforce. Having this ability allows for greater flexibility and competitiveness, which means our company can elect to conduct the activity in the United States, as necessary, rather than rely on overseas providers of the kitted items.”
- “The FTZ helps our company compete by offering the FTZ and its unique capabilities that enable companies to bring their product into the U.S. ahead of FDA approval, which cuts down on their processing time to reach the market faster as well as costs. With the imposition of extensive tariffs, the FTZ enabled companies to navigate the increase in costs to still meet their market need.”
While companies reported benefits, they also reported constraints to FTZ benefits due to the requirement that more imports be assigned privileged-foreign status, rather than non-privileged-foreign status, effectively eliminating the ability to access the inverted tariff benefit*:
- “This advantage has been much less pronounced in the last year with the IEEPA tariffs.”
- “The loss of non-privileged foreign zone status hurt the use of inverted duty benefits for companies.”
Despite the loss of some FTZ benefits, companies still report cost savings*:
- “Although relief from inverted tariffs was effectively removed in early 2025 with the current regulatory requirement that all goods be admitted in PF status, there are still cost savings associated with cash flow savings from duty deferral and reduced weekly merchandise processing fees and entry fee savings.”
Activity in FTZ #176 mirrors cargo trends of the Chicago Rockford International Airport (RFD). In 2024 (2025 data is not yet released), total landed weight of cargo at RFD increased 1.5% compared to 2023. Looking forward, we are optimistic that the foreign trade zone will play an increasingly important role in the region as companies seek tools to mitigate cash flow impacts of increasing tariff rates.
Companies in the FTZ 176 Service Area use the foreign-trade zone in traditional ways, including inverted tariff benefits and cash flow savings. In addition, we have several operators that specialize in FDA regulated products, conducting research and development operations and providing specialty packaging for imported products that are pre-FDA approval.
*All company reported quotes edited to remove company identifying information and for clarity.
