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Greater Kansas City Foreign Trade Zone: A Leader For Export Activity

by Mary Rooney | Oct 03, 2023

The U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones (FTZ) Board recently released its 2022 Annual Report to Congress, which summarizes U.S. FTZ activity during the 2022 calendar year. The report indicates that activity is up across the board, with the Kansas City region’s FTZ experiencing significant growth over the last several years.

During 2022, there were 197 active U.S. FTZs, with a total of 361 active production operations. More than 500,000 people were employed within 1,200 active FTZ operations during the year. The value of shipments into zones totaled more than $1,011 billion, compared with $835 billion the previous year.

Warehouse/distribution operations received more than $387 billion in merchandise while production operations received nearly $624 billion (62%of zone activity). The largest industries accounting for zone production activity include the pharmaceutical, oil refining, automotive, electronics and machinery/equipment sectors. Exports from facilities operating under FTZ procedures amounted to nearly $162 billion.

In the Kansas City region, companies that operate in the Greater Kansas City Foreign Trade Zone (GKCFTZ) received more than $2.1 billion worth of foreign and domestic goods, exported $377 million, employed over 3,000 in the region and had $2.3 billion in value-added activity. 

During 2022, the GKCFTZ ranked in the top 25 for export activity. GKCFTZ Zones produce the greatest economic value of all Zones in Kansas and Missouri, consistently ranking in the top 25 for Zone Activity in the past several years.

The GKCFTZ is a regional grantee of the national FTZ program. In 1974, GKCFTZ was the first nonprofit organization to be designated a grantee. GKCFTZ sponsors both Foreign-Trade Zone No. 15 in Kansas City, Missouri, and Zone No. 17 in Kansas City, Kansas. Zone 15 serves FTZ needs in 23 contiguous counties in the western half of Missouri, and Zone 17 presently serves nine counties in metropolitan Kansas City, Kansas. GKCFTZ is one of the largest zones in the country, with more than 450 million square feet of approved foreign trade zone space that includes General Purpose and Subzone space in both Kansas and Missouri. 

Read more about the Greater Kansas City Foreign-Trade Zone


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