Mullen Automotive’s Tunica, Miss., facility approved as Foreign Trade Zone

Mullen Automotive has been approved for Foreign Trade Zone status with the Department of Commerce for its commercial vehicle manufacturing and assembly center located in Tunica, Mississippi. With FTZ approval, the company now qualifies for a variety of benefits, including deferment of payments on duties related to import fees. For domestic U.S. sales, the company is now able to match import duty payment to when vehicles are shipped from the zone. Mullen estimates that resulting deferred working capital on domestic sales could result in deferred outlays of up to $21M for FY2024 and FY2025. For international sales, the company is now 100% exempt from duties and taxes owed on vehicles exported, returning a bottom-line pick-up of up to 27% on vehicle kits and 11% on vehicle batteries for a blended average of 20% on the full duty cost associated with both Class 1 EV cargo vans and Class 3 EV trucks.