As the largest city in Northern California, the city of San Jose is home to global companies seeking the benefits of operating in its rich ecosystem of manufacturing, research, prototyping, engineering and marketing.
Companies such as Olympus, ANA, Sony, Kawasaki Robotics, Fujitsu and Muji have operations in San Jose, where they are close to customers, vendors and 55,000 skilled manufacturing workers.
In addition to being at the center of the technology world, San Jose offers overseas companies the advantages of operating within its Foreign Trade Zone 18, for which San Jose is grantee. A Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) is a territory in the U.S. that exists outside of U.S. Customs, and the site is considered to be in international commerce. Companies currently operating within FTZ 18 include Tesla, Bloom Energy, Space Systems Loral and Lam Research.
“A key benefit of operating a business in an FTZ is that duties and tariffs on imported merchandise can be delayed, reduced or even eliminated. This can have a significant impact on the bottom line, and enhances a company’s global competitiveness,” said Joe Hedges, City of San Jose international affairs manager.
