China manufacturing activity drops in the middle of Trump Tariff War | Trump -Zölle

China's factory activity slowed down in April, with Beijing “sharp changes” responsible in the global economy because it wages an increasing trade war with the United States.

The punishment of US tariffs, which achieved 145% for many Chinese products in April, and Beijing reacted with 125% tasks for imports from the USA. Chinese exports rose by more than 12%last month than the companies were preceded by the punitive tariffs.

The effects of the measures were reported on Wednesday in the official data, whereby the shopping manager index (PMI) – an important measure of industrial production – fell to 49.0 in April, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the lowest reading since December 2023.

Everything below the 50-point mark means a contraction.

The reading for April was a steeper decline than the 49.7 forecast in a Bloomberg survey. It was 50.5 from March, which was the highest number in 12 months.

Zhao Qinghe, an NBS statistician, said [China’s] External environment ”, in a note that accompanies the publication.

Economists warned that the disorder of trade between the closely integrated US and Chinese economies threatens companies that could increase prices for consumers and cause global recession.

“The weak PMI in April is driven by the trade war,” wrote Zhiwei Zhang, President and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management. “The macrodata in China and the USA will continue to weaken … If the uncertainty of trade policy delays business decisions,” he added.

China's economy, the second largest world in the world, has only tried to recover completely since Covid 19 pandemic, and has also dealt with a slow domestic demand and a lengthy crisis in the real estate sector.

“China's economy is under pressure when external demand cools down,” said Zichun Huang, Economist in the capital economy, in a note. “Although the government increases tax support, it is unlikely that the Air Force will run out completely, and we expect the economy to be expanded only 3.5% this year,” added Huang.

Last year, the authorities announced a number of aggressive stimulus measures that aim to increase growth, including the interest rate cuts and the facilitating of some shopping restrictions for homes.

And in March, the leaders of an important political meeting promised to create 12 million new urban jobs in 2025.

They also said that this year they would strive for growth – just like in 2024 and a goal that many economists considered ambitious.

The International Monetary Fund Goldman Sachs and UBS recently revised its economic growth forecasts for China over 2025 and 2026 in the USA, citing the effects of US tariffs. None of them expect Beijing's economy to reach official growth destinations.

With Agence France press and Reuters