This question came in response to the post entitled What is a Foreign Trade Zone?
Sandra asks
This customs thing is very confusing to me, but I keep reading more and more to try to understand.I am going to be very up front. I like to sell mirror image designer handbags like LOTS of other people do.I just do’t understand how they get shipments thru customs without getting caught. But this letter may explain some of it. Can anyone put imports in a FTZ warehouse? How does that work?
My response
If you’re trying to sell knock-off purses that infringe on someone else’s trademark, then your shipments are probably going to get seized by Customs. One of the duties of the CBP is to protect against counterfeit goods and an FTZ is not a way around that. An FTZ is more of a quarantined holding area for special case shipments. The goods are allowed into the special US warehouse where you can work with them to some degree, but the are not allowed into the commerce of the United States (aka sold in the US) until they pass through the Customs process.
I can’t tell you 100% where the bags you see people selling are coming from, but I imagine that they either slip by Customs, are smuggled in, or are different enough from the trademark holder that they are allowed in.
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