It should be noted that while free zones do not necessarily directly exempt goods from tariffs in their destination market, they can offer an array of other benefits to help soften the blow to firms adversely affected by both tariff and non-tariff barriers. In the words of James Zhan, executive board chair of Waipa\u2019s World Investment Conference: \u201cFree zones act as buffers in a fragmented world economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Investment remains high<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Investment commitments to FTZs have shown resilience. Figures from fDi<\/strong> Markets, which has tracked FDI into more than 1,000 free zones, provide a granular snapshot of investment trends in a global network of FTZs estimated by the World Free Zones Organization in 2023 to be in excess of 7,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2025, the number of greenfield FDI projects announced in global free trade zones remained historically high and appeared resistant to global trends in foreign investment. Data from fDi<\/strong> Markets tracked a 6.5 per cent fall in the total global number of FDI projects in 2025 compared with 2024, while free zones saw a decline of only 0.7 per cent. This reinforces how the role of free zones is evolving with global trends, helping to stay ahead of the curve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further analysis of fDi<\/strong> Markets data shows that in 2025, global free zone FDI projects stood at 728, marginally down compared with the previous year, but representing a greater 4.4 per cent of all global projects. This was the highest number and share of any year this decade, excluding the record-high 818 projects set in 2023, which was the equivalent of 4.8 per cent of the world total that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One trend observed since the outbreak of war in Iran, and the expansion of conflicts in other areas of the Middle East, has been a push towards localisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGlobal conflicts are rewiring supply chains and influencing where businesses invest,\u201d says Zo\u00eb Harries, managing director of consultancy Impact Zones. \u201cDisruption to shipping, uncertainty over delivery times and exposure to energy price shocks are prompting investors to place greater weight on security of supply and business continuity alongside cost.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before the US-Israeli operation in Iran began at the end of February, the Strait of Hormuz saw about 38 per cent of global crude oil trade, nearly 30 per cent of LPG trade, and 19 per cent of both LNG and refined oil products trade passing through its narrow gap, according to Unctad analysis of trade the week before the strait\u2019s first closure. Disruption has continued throughout 2026, with the strait\u2019s handling of an estimated 125 large commercial vessels per day before the war being reduced to as low as three a day just last month, putting pressure on supply chains globally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis [disruption] is encouraging diversification, investment closer to end markets and friendshoring into countries with trusted political and trading relationships. Locations previously discounted on cost grounds may therefore warrant another look,\u201d Harries adds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies are rethinking their international footprint to account for the new reality of foreign trade, updating their site selection calculus accordingly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As \u201ctariffs have become a more material financial cost\u201d, there has been \u201cquite a lot of new interest\u201d in US foreign trade zones, says Greg Nichols, senior vice-president for global customs solutions at DHL Global Forwarding (see page 12). <\/p>\n\n\n\n While this effect of friendshoring or relocating of operations is not new, as Imane Radouane, an FTZ expert who has worked for Unctad and the Africa Economic Zones Organization, explains, recent disruptions \u201ckeep making supply chain resilience more and more tangible for investors, including through increased transit times, freight rate volatility and insurance costs\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBeing able to operate with resilience, from manufacturing to distribution, matters more than ever [and] that could favour locations closer to end markets, with reliable ports, power, transport connections and customs infrastructure,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Free zones have not been without their critics this past year. US President Donald Trump\u2019s second term has ushered in a new global crisis for free trade, spurred by a plethora of tariffs his administration placed on nations across the world starting in April 2025, many of whom were seen as reliable trade allies of the US. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While some nations have hit back with tariffs of their own, others have been accused of trying to navigate their way around these with what the White House referred to as \u201cThe Great Transshipment Scam\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTraditionally, if China ships steel to Mexico, which is then exported to the US without any processing, that is considered transshipment,\u201d David Gantz, Will Clayton fellow in trade and international economics at Rice University\u2019s Baker Institute, explains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut some of what the White House attacks as transshipment is more properly termed \u2018circumvention\u2019, where for example Vietnam assembles solar panels from parts and components, all of which originate in China, so as to avoid US countervailing and anti-dumping duties.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Often this circumvention is carried out through the use of free zones, minimising the costs of processing for exporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Gantz admits that transshipment may be a \u201cserious problem\u201d, he says it is difficult to find \u201caccurate information\u201d on the magnitude of transshipment claimed in the White House report on the topic, released in August this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Naturally, free zone operators may see themselves in the firing line of these accusations, and will want to protect themselves against it, especially if measures are taken to target transshipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c[The US administration] is simply proposing a new and superficially sophisticated method for keeping more foreign goods out of the US,\u201d Gantz adds. \u201cIf this poorly-thought-out plan is implemented, it seems likely that it will adversely affect foreign trade zone operations in the US and exports from duty free zones to the US as well as many others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The number of FDI projects in FTZs globally dedicated to logistics and transportation rose in 2025 compared with the previous year, according to fDi<\/strong> Markets data, representing almost 9 per cent of all projects in FTZs last year. This included more than 10 projects valued at more than $100mn, in zones across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Central America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In parallel, the sector with the greatest investment into FTZs in 2025 according to fDi<\/strong> Markets was automotive OEM: those manufacturing the original parts for cars and other vehicles which are then subsequently assembled and installed during the construction of a new automobile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Explaining this intertwined growth, Harries says: \u201cAutomotive manufacturing, logistics and data centres share a need for reliable infrastructure delivered at scale and at speed. Free zones can bring together serviced land, power, connectivity and customs facilitation, potentially accelerating the establishment of operations. Automotive manufacturers need dependable supplier networks and access to end markets; logistics businesses connect those supply chains.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zhan adds that tariffs could also be driving this growth for logistics operations, due to these measures \u201cpushing firms to reroute supply chains and hold stock closer to end markets\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He says that one knock-on effect of the tariffs would \u201cbenefit zones with strong port and multimodal links\u201d, and highlighted how these trends are part of a \u201clonger shift toward regional production and distribution hubs\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Free zones have proven their adaptability. In the years of hyperglobalisation they were instrumental in the development of global value chains. As the world pivots towards regionalisation, they serve the need for resiliency and tariff optimisation of global companies. They are not a safe haven for a fractious world whose dynamics are well beyond their control; but they still offer ways to limit and mitigate the risks stemming from the new reality of trading and investing across borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fonte: FDI Intelligence | Foto: Reprodu\u00e7\u00e3o<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 8 minutos<\/small> The world is not what it was a year ago. Conflicts across the Middle East have put unprecedented strains on global supply chains and sent the price of oil spiralling. More than ever, nations are also finding themselves forced to turn their backs on free trade, spurred on by assertive tariffs imposed by the US on countries across the globe. Some countries have opted to enforce tariffs on their own in response, while others have been suspected of using methods such as Continue lendo<\/span>\u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":6201,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[72,80,74],"class_list":["entry","author-fpx","post-9550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-noticias","tag-abrazpe","tag-comercio-exterior","tag-zpe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9550"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9553,"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9550\/revisions\/9553"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-6.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-7.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nShortening supply chains<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018New interest\u2019 <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The great transshipment scam?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Some of what the White House attacks as transshipment is more properly termed \u2018circumvention\u2019<\/q><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Transport fever<\/h2>\n\n\n\n