China’s April Manufacturing Activity Shrinks As Tariff War Bites

China’s manufacturing activity shrank in April after growing at its highest rate in a year the previous month, official data showed on Wednesday (Apr 30), as Beijing fights an intensifying trade war with the United States.

Punishing US tariffs that have reached 145 per cent on many Chinese products came into force in April, while Beijing has responded with fresh 125 per cent duties on imports from the United States.

And the impact of the measures began to show through in April, with the Purchasing Managers’ Index – a key measure of industrial output – falling to 49 in April, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), below the 50-point mark that separates growth and contraction.

The reading for April was down from March’s 50.5, which was the highest in 12 months, and represented a steeper decline than the 49.7 forecast in a Bloomberg survey.

AFP

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