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, issuing 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 was agreed on.
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% tariffs on Mexican imports starting June 10 if the Mexicans don't do more to stop the surge of Central American migrants across the southern U.S. border.
That would be a bitter blow to some manufacturers that use Mexico as a production bases, such as automakers.
Shares fell sharply Friday in New York in response, and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 index early Monday augured a slow start to the week, with both down 0.3%. Most major benchmarks in Asia and Europe fell.
Huawei Technologies, the world's biggest maker of telecom gear and No. 2 smartphone manufacturer, said Monday that it had no comment on an announcement by the IEEE, pronounced "Eye-triple-E," about allowing employees of Huawei and its affiliates to participate in its publication process as peer reviewers and editors.
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