Global factories struggle to overcome Trump tariffs and uncertainty

Workers operate sewing machines at a Thai Son S.P. garment factory in Binh Thuan province, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on April 10. For more than 70 years, many emerging nations, especially in Asia, have become the low-cost manufacturer to the U.S., the world’s biggest consumer. | BLOOMBERG

by CRAIG STIRLING
May 5, 2025

More signs emerged in a wave of reports this week that global manufacturing is buckling from President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Purchasing manager indexes across Asia, along with revised numbers in Europe on Friday, showed new or persisting contractions in factory activity in April.

The reports capped a flurry of worrying signals: Few economies are avoiding the concussion of tariffs and paralyzing uncertainty that’s engulfed the world economy one month after the U.S. president announced widespread taxes on American imports.