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Select Board endorses edited letter in support of Methods Machine Tools' foreign-trade-zone bid
Summary
The board voted to send an edited letter from the Select Board supporting Methods Machine Tools' application for a foreign-trade-zone designation at 976 Main Street, citing potential job retention and tariff relief for the local manufacturer.
The Acton Select Board on Oct. 20 authorized sending an edited Select Board letter supporting Methods Machine Tools’ application to establish a foreign-trade zone at 976 Main Street.
Patricia Costa (economic development) said the company imports machinery, customizes it in Acton, and exports finished equipment; current tariff uncertainty and rising input costs led the company to seek a foreign-trade-zone designation to defer or reduce tariff payments on inbound mater ials. Kevin Sahoo, controller for Methods Machine Tools, attended and answered questions about the company's operations and job impacts.
Board members supported recommending the foreign-trade-zone application and asked staff to edit the draft letter (one paragraph in the packet used the first person and should be revised to say 'the Select Board recommends' rather than ‘I’). The motion approved sending the board’s edited letter on behalf of the Select Board.
The board’s action is a recommendation to the relevant federal/state process for foreign-trade-zone designation; the company and staff said the designation would not expand the company’s immediate footprint or change operations beyond the current scope and would require border-protection inspection as part of the process.
