Plans for a Gallup TradePort are progressing with a pending application for a User Fee Airport and Foreign Trade Zone, which might also eventually lead to expanded passenger service.
Interim City Manager JM DeYoung said the application process is expected to take several months.
“My guess is that there will be some back and forth as we go through the process, especially with regards to our terminal design and some things we might need to do to accommodate new services out of our airport,” he said.
City leaders envision a bustling trade port that would link the city’s road and rail transport assets with air freight to help local businesses save time and money.
A Foreign Trade Zone is an area where companies can import and hold raw materials duty-free, and export finished products to other countries with reduced duties. That can reduce the time it takes local businesses to get imported supplies because they would bypass Customs inspections at overloaded coastal ports by shifting inspections to the local zone.
The city started the process last November, when the council approved applying to the New Mexico Department of Transportation for money to plan the project. The hope is that a trade port will serve local businesses and attract new manufacturing and warehouse operations to McKinley County.
To keep the plan moving, the city council has approved a contract with law firm Miller & Co. to submit an application to Customs and Border Patrol to provide supervision for the User Fee Airport and Foreign Trade Zone. Part of the initial process included a local canvass to see what businesses might benefit from a Foreign Trade Zone.
“They didn’t find any that met the need initially. However, there have been discussions recently with companies potentially coming to town that could qualify for trade zone services,” DeYoung said.
A Foreign Trade Zone requires a United States Customs and Border Protection agent on site, which comes with a five-year commitment and $200,000-per-year price tag to pay for the agent in Gallup, since the nearest one now is in Albuquerque. That money would likely come either from businesses that take advantage of the Foreign Trade Zone or a New Mexico Department of Transportation grant.
Meanwhile, the state has extended the grant that helps the city have Advanced Air passenger flights between Gallup and Phoenix for another two years, so those flights should be available into 2026, DeYoung said, and Advanced is looking for ways to expand Gallup service, possibly to other destinations.
The next step toward a Foreign Trade Zone is a related program called a User Fee Airport. The UFA would not only open the possibility of a Foreign Trade Zone; it would let air carriers offer passenger flights into and out of Gallup from Canada and Mexico.
“The UFA and that designation also allows planes to arrive from a foreign country directly to your community and clear Customs there at the airport with the CBP officer,” attorney Bryan Brown told the council when they initially considered the idea. “Likewise, it allows planes to leave for foreign countries such as Mexico directly from the airport with customs review of the release of the airplane and the passengers to fly to Mexico or to Canada.”
The $100,000 contract approved Oct. 24 to be paid out of the $1 million grant the city received from NMDOT in June, includes $80,000 to complete the application and $14,000 for contingencies.
By Holly J. Wagner
Sun Correspondent
