A gauge of U.S. manufacturing fell by more than forecast to a six-month low, as orders and hiring cooled amid escalating trade tensions with China, data showed last week.
China, dubbed ‘the workshop of the world’ for its sprawling supply chains and huge export capacity, is hoping to manufacture something new this week at a huge trade fair in Shanghai: import orders.
Chinese manufacturers need time to rearrange complex supply chains, but Chinese consumers can easily change vacation plans to visit Tuscany rather than Napa Valley.
A common theme this earnings season: U.S. business executives are ready to relocate their supply chains if the cost of importing Chinese goods becomes prohibitive.
The cost of hiring container ships has plunged 24 percent from a multi-year peak while raw material vessel rates have slumped 10 percent from a five-year high.
If the U.K. leaves the EU with no deal, it could be “catastrophic” for medicine supplies — and necessitate emergency powers, the pharmaceuticals industry says.