Bloomberg | Aug 10, 2018

Facing the barrage of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, Steve Katz is ducking for cover in the trade-war version of a demilitarized zone.

Katz manages a plant at United Chemi-Con in Lansing, North Carolina, a village of about 150 people with no traffic signal. The facility, which makes capacitors for industrial and consumer products, is covered by a foreign-trade zone based in Greensboro. Trade zones are areas in or near ports of entry under U.S. Customs and Border Protection supervision that are generally considered outside of CBP territory. With the blessing of the U.S. government, companies can import goods into the zone with reduced duties on a case-by-case basis.