Amber Road has formed a strategic partnership with FTZ Corporation, a provider of foreign trade zone consulting services and developer of the SmartZone Premier application. Amber Road is a vendor of software and services for global trade management (GTM). Its products are aimed at importers, exporters, logistics service providers and carriers. The deal with FTZ Corp. aims to expand the use of FTZs through integration with the core GTM processes of import, export and trade agreement management. FTZ Corp. has implemented more than 250 FTZ projects; it currently administers nine such projects. Its services to clients include the application to the U.S. FTZ Board, and activation of the zone with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Advantages of using an FTZ include exemption from duty payment upon re-exportation of goods; relief from inverted tariffs, where raw materials with high duty rates can be transformed to an end product with a low duty rate; use of consolidated weekly entries to reduce merchandise processing fees, and deferral of duty on inventory stored within an FTZ.
