Countywide zone pushed to spark foreign trade

Every inch of Miami-Dade may soon be covered by a foreign trade zone, enabling participating businesses to become more price-competitive in international goods trade, a key element of the county’s economy.

Today the northern half of the county is in a single such zone overseen by PortMiami that was started in 2012, putting many businesses in the southern half in over 21.5 million square feet of industrial space at a competitive disadvantage.

Monday, the county’s PortMiami and Environmental Resilience Committee took the first step toward spreading the wealth around, voting to authorize Mayor Daniella Levine Cava to submit to the Foreign-Trade Zones (FTZ) Board of the US Department of Commerce a request that the seaport-administered zone be allowed to expand to cover the whole county.

In a foreign trade zone, companies can import goods or parts, manufacture or reconfigure them, then export them without paying normal customs duties.

A memo from the mayor to commissioners says zone expansion “will allow greater growth opportunities by substantially increasing the number of current and future Miami-Dade businesses that may seek FTZ designation.”

“The need for quick and efficient FTZ site designation in Miami-Dade County has proven to be in high demand,” says a letter by county Chief Operations Officer Jimmy Morales to go to the federal agency. “As the administrator of FTZ 281, PortMiami has sponsored over 100 designated sites, and four magnet sites. As per the Foreign-Trade Zones Board’s 2021 annual report, FTZ 281 ranked as No. 11 among all US FTZs in export activity.”

While the county houses two other FTZ grantees, Mr. Morales noted, “FTZ 281 has the unique advantaged to be administered by PortMiami and work closely with Miami International Airport. These entities are the two most important economic engines in Miami-Dade County and heavily influence international trade.”

The application for FTZ expansion notes that PortMiami trade was $75.6 billion in fiscal 2021, with China accounting for more than a fifth by volume. Six of the port’s nine other top trade partners are in Latin America and the Caribbean, accounting for $28.4 billion.

Miami International Airport last year handled a record 2.75 million tons of freight, 82% moving internationally.

“The expansion of FTZ 281,” the application says, “would greatly help with the promotion of more distribution, warehousing and manufacturing activity and jobs.”

Distribution and warehouse space is already at a premium here, with leasing rates soaring 35% since the start of the pandemic, says real estate advisory firm CBRE. Space demand ballooned during covid, with the tight market sending rents to all-time highs, up 10% in just the third quarter.

But in southern end of the county, which would gain most from a countywide FTZ, the average asking rate for industrial space is the county’s lowest at $13.15 per square foot, CBRE figures show, well below the county average $14.65. The highest is $18.50 in the airport area, which is now the county’s heart of international trade.

One of the two FTZs in the county that are not a part of the seaport-administered zone is in South Dade, run by the area’s Vision Council promoting business development. The federal application says the council’s president would work with the expanded PortMiami zone “as this grantee does not have the internal capacity to market its zone and promote trade.”