Chicago

General Description

The Chicago Foreign Trade Zone (CFTZ) comprises of a 60-mile radius from the Chicago city limits. Its grantee (a corporation to which the privilege of establishing, operating and maintaining the FTZ has been granted) is the Illinois International Port District. The CFTZ has two general-purpose zone sites. One site is at Lake Calumet Harbor, and the other one is near O'Hare Airport.

The site at Lake Calumet Harbor has 400,000 square feet of designated warehouse space and 20 acres of developable land for the storage, handling, processing, manufacturing and/or assembling of foreign goods.²²

O'Hare Airport is a part of Chicago Airport System.²³ In 2007, O'Hare Airport handled cargo tonnage of 1,690,742 and passenger volume of 76,182,025.²⁴

The CFTZ also has 12 sub zones being operated by the following companies:²⁵

• Ford
• Abbott Laboratories
• Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC
• BP Pipeline North America
• Citgo Petroleum Corp.
• EXXON Mobil
• Henkel Corporation
• Premcor Refining Group
• Northrop Grumman Corporation
• Michelin North America, Inc.
• Medline Industries, Inc.
• Sony Electronics Inc.

Infrastructure Energy

Illinois has access to an abundant supply of electricity (45,000 megawatts) and produces 190 billion kilowatts per year at 61 facilities. In addition, Illinois is a leading major producer of nuclear power, generating approximately 90.9 billion kilowatt hours with 11 nuclear units.²⁶

Telecommunications

The CFTZ has access to an established telecommunications network. Illinois has digital switching that allows high quality, high speed and secure voice, data, and image communications with lower operating costs. Illinois has an elaborate fiber optic network present in the state.²⁷

Transportation

Road Transport
The CFTZ has access to an established road transportation system. Five federal highways pass through Chicago²⁸ and, about 400 line haul and local cartage carriers provide a variety of motor services.²⁹

Sea Transport
The CFTZ has access to the Port of Chicago. The Port of Chicago is well established and serves as a link between the inland river system, the Great Lakes and the global marketplace.³⁰

Rail Transport
Six of America's major railroads pass through Chicago.³¹ In addition, the Port of Chicago has excellent terminal and rail switching services.³²

Air Transport
Chicago is served by Chicago O'Hare and Midway International airports. Both airports are owned and operated by the City of Chicago and managed, operated and maintained by the Department of Aviation.³³

Financial Sector

Chicago is a major financial centre and the headquarters of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Three major financial and futures exchanges (Chicago Stock Exchange, the Chicago Board Options Exchange and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange) are located in Chicago. In addition, many major brokerage firms and insurance companies (e.g., Allstate and Zurich North America) are located in Chicago and the surrounding areas.

Business Sectors

The key business sectors operating at the CFTZ are auto, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, chemicals, aircrafts, and electronics.³⁴

Business Inputs

Raw Materials

Raw materials may be imported to the CFTZ with deferral of customs duties. In addition, if such raw materials carry a higher duty rate than a finished product, manufacturing or assembly operations within the CFTZ can secure application of a lower duty rate applicable to the finished products.

In addition, coal is present in about 65 percent of Illinois' sub-surface. Recoverable coal reserves account for more BTUs than the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and account for almost 12.5 percent of total U.S. reserves.³⁵

Labour

Chicago and its surrounding metropolitan area have the second largest labour pool in the U.S. of approximately 4.25 million people.

Northwestern University, the University of Illinois, the University of Chicago and other educational institutions ensure a steady influx of skilled labour in the local economy.

Investors

Deloitte was not able to obtain reliable information on the geographical origin of foreign investors that have established a presence in the CFTZ.

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