Chinese data suggests some damage from trade war

Published June 4, 2019
Employees working on a micro motor production line at a factory in Huaibei in China’s eastern Anhui province.
Employees working on a micro motor production line at a factory in Huaibei in China’s eastern Anhui province.

BEIJING: A report Monday on Chinese manufacturing suggested that Beijing’s trade war with the Trump administration is causing economic damage.

Surveys of manufacturers across the region for May showed that business confidence has been shaken by the conflict over President Donald Trump’s demands that Beijing change its industrial planning strategy and find other ways to redress its perennially huge trade surpluses.

A private survey, the Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers’ index, or PMI, for China held steady at 50.2 in May, just above the 50 level that distinguishes between expansion and contraction. But business confidence slipped to its lowest level since the series began in April 2012. The official manufacturing PMI, issued Friday, sank to one of the lowest levels in three years.

China showed no signs of budging over the Trump administration’s demands. It issued a report over the weekend saying it would not back down on “major issues of principle.” It said Beijing had kept its word through 11 rounds of trade negotiations and accused Washington of backtracking by introducing new tariffs and other conditions beyond what had been agreed to.

Most of Trump’s ire over trade has been directed at China, given its lion-sized importance to global manufacturing and its growing technological prowess. But last week the president heaped more uncertainty on global financial markets and investors by saying he would impose 5 per cent tariffs on Mexican imports starting June 10 if the Mexicans don’t stop the surge of Central American migrants across the southern US border.

That would be a blow to some manufacturers that use Mexico as production bases, such as automakers.

Meanwhile, the world’s largest association of technology professionals backed away from barring employees of Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies from some of its activities.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2019

Follow Dawn Business on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and across the world.

Opinion

Editorial

The long wait
Updated 23 Feb, 2025

The long wait

Pakistan’s fundamental problem is that two of its most important leaders still cannot get over themselves.
Defending freedom
23 Feb, 2025

Defending freedom

THERE was no other choice. Despite assurances of consultations with key stakeholders, the government passed the Peca...
Anti-Muslim crimes
23 Feb, 2025

Anti-Muslim crimes

THE surge in Islamophobic assaults in the UK, as reported by the anti-hate crime charity Tell MAMA, is a stark...
Judiciary in the dock
Updated 22 Feb, 2025

Judiciary in the dock

Recent developments in SC and IHC certainly seem to have lent credibility to perception that judges perceived as a 'threat’ are being sidelined.
Paying taxes
22 Feb, 2025

Paying taxes

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s ‘hard talk’ at a retail business conference on Thursday was long ...
Rules for thee
22 Feb, 2025

Rules for thee

IT was a year ago when, in the tumultuous aftermath of the 2024 elections, the state banned X. Today, it remains...