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Socorro council approves foreign trade zone schedule update adding manufacturing incentive
Summary
Council approved an update to Foreign Trade Zone #302’s zone schedule to add a manufacturing incentive intended to attract new industry; city staff said the change must be submitted to U.S. authorities for final approval.
The Socorro City Council approved updates to the zone schedule for Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) No. 302 that add a manufacturing incentive intended to help attract new industry to the city’s industrial corridors.
Jose Quinones of the city’s Economic Recovery Office told the council that FTZ 302 is “the newest foreign trade zone in the nation” and that the update adds a manufacturing incentive on page 78 of the zone schedule. Quinones said the city’s industrial corridor along I-10 and the Socorro Logistics Center position the city to compete regionally for manufacturing projects across West Texas and southern New Mexico.
Quinones said council approval is a local step; the U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones Board within the Department of Commerce must grant final authority. “Once council does approve today, I need to take this to the US foreign trade zone support under the Department of Commerce. They grant the final authority for us to add this incentive,” Quinones said, adding that the federal reviewers may request technical edits.
Why it matters: City leaders said the incentive has no direct cost to the city as written and could increase job creation if it helps secure manufacturing operations. Council approved the update by motion and second, and the mayor declared the motion passed; the transcript records a voice vote without individual tallies.
Council did not specify financial terms of the incentive in the meeting record; Quinones said final approval by federal authorities may require minor technical changes.
