# 2026-19590: Merck Expands Duty-Free Drug Making in New Jersey FTZ

2026-19590, Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) 49, Notification of Proposed Production Activity; Merck, Sharp & Dohme LLC; (Drug Products and Intermediates); Rahway, New Jersey, is a Federal Register notice from Commerce Department, Foreign-Trade Zones Board published 2026-09-24; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-19590
- As of: 2026-10-01
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Document number: 2026-19590
- Title: Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) 49, Notification of Proposed Production Activity; Merck, Sharp & Dohme LLC; (Drug Products and Intermediates); Rahway, New Jersey
- Type: Notice
- Agencies: Commerce Department; Foreign-Trade Zones Board
- Citation: 91 FR 60578
- Published: 2026-09-24
- Effective: unknown
- Comments close: not stated
- Significant: no
- Touches household money: yes
- Regulation identifier numbers: none
- Last updated: 2026-10-01

## In one line

Merck Expands Duty-Free Drug Making in New Jersey FTZ

## Summary

Merck, Sharp & Dohme LLC wants to expand its drug-making activities at its Rahway, New Jersey site inside Foreign-Trade Zone 49. They plan to add new drug products and ingredients, like cancer and neurological disease treatments, that can enter duty-free or with low duties. This move helps Merck save money on import taxes and keep making important medicines efficiently.

## Effects PRIA read

- Merck adds drug products to FTZ duty-free: benefit, medium. Merck plans to add specific finished drug products at its Rahway, NJ site in Foreign-Trade Zone 49 (Subzone 49Y). The proposed finished products (including immunological disorder drug product; oncology spray dried intermediate; infectious disease spray dry intermediate; deuterated neurologic diseas…
- Some inputs face duties up to 6.5% and 232/301 rules: cost, medium. The notification lists many foreign-status materials/components (various active pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates) with duty rate ranges from duty-free up to 6.5%. It also states that certain materials/components may be subject to duties under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 19…

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## Sources
- [2026-19590 on federalregister.gov](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/24/2026-19590/foreign-trade-zone-ftz-49-notification-of-proposed-production-activity-merck-sharp-and-dohme-llc)
- [2026-19590 as published (PDF)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-09-24/pdf/2026-19590.pdf)

## Related
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- [Next: 2026-19591, Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) 272, Notification of Proposed Production Activity; Inf…](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-19591)
- [All Federal Register documents](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-19590 (as of 2026-10-01).