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33-564: The Port of Houston is a cooperative entity consisting of both the port authority , which operates the major terminals along the Houston Ship Channel , and more than 150 private companies situated along Buffalo Bayou and Galveston Bay . Many petroleum corporations have built refineries along the channel where they are partially protected from the threat of major storms in the Gulf of Mexico . The petrochemical complex associated with

66-608: A 90-minute free cruise aboard the M/V Sam Houston , details of which can be found on its website. Since the Houston Ship Channel is closed to recreational traffic, this is the only means by which the general public can view port operations, and thus the tours are highly popular. Most Volkswagen (and Audi ) automobiles sold in North America pass through the port of Houston. The Port is operated by

99-579: A complete listing, see list of cities and towns in Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land MSA Port authority In Canada, the United States and Spain, a port authority (less commonly a port district ) is a governmental or quasi-governmental public authority for a special-purpose district usually formed by a legislative body (or bodies) to operate ports and other transportation infrastructure. In Canada,

132-524: A grantee to go through a traditional boundary modification for expansion purposes. Companies now have the option to select between establishing their business in a usage-driven site or a magnet site . Usage-driven sites are sites within a grantee's service area, that must go through a designation and activation process with the grantee and the Foreign-Trade Zone Board prior to initiating operations. Under ASF, usage-driven sites replace

165-401: A majority of companies are not utilizing FTZs to their full potential because sometimes the unknown creates uncertainty. Some of the benefits of operating a FTZ include: Inverted tariff benefits exist when the duty rate for the overall finished good is lower than the duty rate of the component parts. Therefore, by manufacturing finished goods within an FTZ, US importers can take advantage of

198-487: A surety bond, rather than through on-site supervision by customs personnel. There are over 230 foreign-trade zone projects and nearly 400 subzones in the United States. The U.S. foreign-trade zones program was created by the Foreign-Trade Zones Act of 1934. The Foreign-Trade Zones Act was one of two key pieces of legislation passed in 1934 in an attempt to mitigate some of the destructive effects of

231-663: Is occasionally open to discussion. No distinction is made here between river and Great Lakes ports. The Minister of Transport is ultimately responsible for his patronage of Canadian port authorities, a useful map of which is electronically available at Transport Canada . With date of Letters Patent. Atlantic Great Lakes Pacific St. Lawrence Seaway Charter date in parentheses. Atlantic Gulf of Mexico Great Lakes / St. Lawrence Seaway Pacific Inland Rivers Listed from northwest to southeast. API stands for Administración Portuaria Integral (Integral Port Administration). Pacific Gulf of Mexico In

264-538: Is petroleum related. The Port has two separate terminals dedicated to the handling of cargo containers : Barbours Cut (at Morgan's Point ), and Bayport (in Pasadena, opened in October 2006). The Barbours Cut terminal was, in fact, the port's first terminal specifically designed for these shipments. Additional general cargo terminals include Turning Basin, Jacintoport, Woodhouse, and Care. The Port Authority offers

297-655: The Barbours Cut Terminal , Texas' first cargo container terminal, at Morgan's Point . This new terminal, in the Bay Area , quickly became the port's most important terminal. The opening of the Bayport Terminal in 2006 further extended the port authority's reach outside the city of Houston. Approximately 215 million short tons (195 Mt) of cargo moved through the Port in 2005, most of which

330-474: The Smoot-Hawley Tariffs , which had been imposed in 1930. The Foreign-Trade Zones Act was created to "expedite and encourage foreign commerce" in the United States. Through World War II , manufacturing activity was allowed only on a very limited basis. In 1950, the original act was amended to open up FTZs to manufacturing, but it had little impact until 1980. In that year, Congress again amended

363-546: The FTZ can be delayed until the cargo is removed from the zone. No duty is paid if the merchandise is exported directly from the zone. The following Sub Zones are a part of The Port of Houston FTZ No. 84: Despite being one of the youngest major ports in the world (the port reached its 100th birthday in 2014) it has already racked up an impressive list of firsts. Notable firsts include: In 1968 Texas historian Marilyn McAdams Sibley published The Port of Houston: A History . For

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396-626: The Grenadines. Central and South America also have port agencies such as autoridad and consorcio (authority and consortium). In Mexico , the federal government created sixteen port administrations in 1994–1995 called Administración Portuaria Integral (Integral Port Administration) in Spanish, as result of the Ley de Puertos (Port Law) of 1993. These are organized as variable capital corporations ( Sociedad Anónima de Capital Variable ), with

429-747: The Port of Houston Authority, an independent political subdivision of the State of Texas governed by a seven-member commission. The City of Houston and the Harris County Commissioners Court each appoint two commissioners; these two governmental entities also jointly appoint the chairman of the Port Commission. The Harris County Mayors and Councils Association and the City of Pasadena each appoint one commissioner. Daily operations are overseen by an Executive Director who serves at

462-504: The Port of Houston is one of the largest in the world. The original Port of Houston was located at the confluence of Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou in downtown Houston by the University of Houston–Downtown . This area is called " Allen's Landing " and is now a park. It is the birthplace of the City of Houston. Shipping points grew at multiple locations on Buffalo Bayou including the port of Harrisburg (now part of Houston) and

495-450: The U.S. on a regular basis and in high volume are the main participants. It is a way to reduce importing costs and save money by participating in special customs procedures and simplifies processes to run more efficient inventory control systems. The process to register into one used to be lengthy — 9 to 12 months, depending on the industry and if a FTZ is being created vs. expanded. This changed in 2011, when Alternative Site Framework (ASF)

528-580: The United Kingdom operators of ports and harbours become de facto port authorities under several pieces of legislation. Examples include the: Foreign trade zones of the United States In the United States, a foreign-trade zone (FTZ) is a geographical area, in (or adjacent to) a United States Port of Entry , where commercial merchandise, both domestic and foreign, receives the same Customs treatment it would if it were outside

561-483: The World Port of Houston and Buffalo Bayou on November 10, 1914. In the 1930s the Port became the focus of labor conflict, with sometimes intense battles between strikers and authorities, during the 1935 Gulf Coast longshoremen's strike and the 1936 Gulf Coast maritime workers' strike among other incidents. In 1911, there was a campaign persuading voters to approve a $ 1.25 million bond to raise money for dredging

594-517: The act so that products manufactured in the zones would not be assessed on U.S. value-added. This ensured that the only tariffs a producer inside the zone selling to U.S. customers would pay, would be on the raw materials imported into the zone. This "integrated" model, which replaced the previous "island" model, spurred growth in the U.S. foreign-trade zones program. U.S. FTZs pose multiple benefits, other than duty deferred and inverted tariff, which companies can use to benefit their bottom line. However,

627-561: The commerce of the United States. The purpose of such zones is to help American businesses to be competitive in the global economy by reducing tariff burdens on the importation of foreign inputs and on exported finished products. Another definition of an FTZ states that it is an isolated, enclosed and policed area operated as a public utility, furnished with facilities for loading, unloading, handling, storing, manipulating, manufacturing and exhibiting goods and for reshipping them by land, water or air. Merchandise of every description may be held in

660-574: The designation process with the help of the grantee and local customs. Under ASF, magnet sites replace the role that general purpose zones once held – industrial parks that serve commerce as a public utility. A foreign-trade subzone is an area approved by the Foreign-Trade Zones Board for use by a specific company. Foreign-trade subzone companies enjoy all the same benefits as foreign-trade zone companies, but subzones are located outside existing general-purpose sites within 60 miles of

693-477: The docks on the Allen Ranch . By the end of the 19th century Buffalo Bayou had become a major shipping channel with traffic beginning to rival Galveston. The citizens of Harris County approved creation of the modern port in 1909, believing that an inland port would better serve the region after the destructive Galveston Hurricane of 1900 . President Woodrow Wilson officially opened the port to traffic as

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726-531: The federal Minister of Transport selects the local chief executive board member and the rest of the board is appointed at the recommendation of port users to the federal Minister; while all Canadian port authorities have a federal or Crown charter called letters patent . Numerous Caribbean nations have port authorities, including those of Aruba, British Virgin Islands, Bahamas, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent and

759-683: The first nine months of 2011, up from 1.9 million short tons (1.7 Mt) over the same period in the previous year. The Port of Houston is a major point of international trade for the United States. The following is the trade volume by world region reported by the Greater Houston Partnership as of 2006. The Port of Houston Authority manages Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) No. 84 , which includes many privately owned and port-owned sites located throughout Houston and Harris County, Texas. The Houston Zone offers users special benefits. For example, customs duties on imported goods entering

792-482: The higher duty rate on the component parts and defers the lower duty payment on the value of the foreign content until the time of consumption in the commerce of the US. Inverted tariff is seen predominantly in the manufacturing industry, benefiting automotive, petroleum, pharmaceutical, aerospace, electronics, textile companies and many more. Any company in any industry can apply to be a part of an FTZ. Companies importing to

825-517: The intent of creating more private investment in a state owned sector. Port authorities are usually governed by boards or commissions, which are commonly appointed by governmental chief executives, often from different jurisdictions. Most port authorities are financially self-supporting. In addition to owning land, setting fees, and sometimes levying taxes, port districts can also operate shipping terminals, airports, railroads, and irrigation facilities. The distinction between inland and being marine

858-420: The inverted tariff duty rate, all while keeping manufacturing operations within the US. Inverted tariff works when an importer with manufacturing authority within an FTZ is allowed to admit their components into the zone duty-free, manufacture the finished good, and pay CBP duties on the foreign content in the finished good at the lower duty rate of the finished goods at the time of entry. The importer avoids paying

891-418: The port of entry. Subzones allow companies that import and/or re-export products to take advantage of foreign-trade zone benefits without having to physically relocate within the foreign-trade zone general purpose sites. These sites are becoming obsolete with the implementation of ASF. Companies have the ability, utilizing drawback filings, to recoup up to 99% of the duties paid on goods previously imported into

924-477: The role that subzones once held – allowing companies to operate under FTZ status while being located outside of what used to be called "general purpose zones" or now known as magnet sites under ASF. Magnet sites are usually industrial parks or multi-tenant sites within a grantee's service area, which have already been designated by the Foreign-Trade Zone Board. Once a company that's established in said industrial park wants to operate as an FTZ, it must only go through

957-511: The supervision of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection under the United States Homeland Security Council . The relevant state government must also have passed a law enabling the establishment of such zones. Since 1986, U.S. customs' oversight of FTZ operations has been conducted on an audit-inspection basis known as compliance reviews , whereby compliance is assured through audits and spot checks under

990-519: The waterway. The campaign was successful and voters approved the bond issuance and creation of the Harris County Houston Ship Channel Navigation District that is called Port of Houston Authority (POHA) today. Early supporters would prove to be correct; the port has grown to be one of the world's largest. By 1961, it was already among the busiest ports in the US. In 1977 the Port of Houston opened

1023-603: The will of the Commission. A renovation project for the Port's Turning Basin Terminal began in 2010 and is expected to take 10 years. The Turning Basin Terminal is a multipurpose complex with open wharves and 37 docks that are used for direct discharge and loading of breakbulk, containerized, project or heavy-lift cargoes. The goal of the renovation is to accommodate the increase in the transportation of steel, which increased more than 3.1 million short tons (2.8 Mt) in

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1056-455: The zone without being subject to tariffs (customs duties) and other ad valorem taxes . This tariff and tax relief is designed to lower the costs of U.S.-based operations engaged in international trade and thereby create and retain the employment and capital investment opportunities that result from those operations. These special geographic areas – foreign-trade zones – are established "in or adjacent to" U.S. Ports of Entry and are under

1089-499: Was introduced. Alternative Site Framework (ASF) provides a streamlined process for foreign-trade zone grantees to quickly expand operations within their given service area. Grantees that have transitioned over to ASF are granted 2,000 "virtual" acres to designate sites within their service area, sometimes as quickly as thirty (30) days. As opposed to the Traditional Site Framework, this ASF option doesn't require

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