By Leika Kihara
TOKYO (Reuters) -Factory activity in many Asian economies shrank in June as U.S. tariff uncertainty kept demand low, but signs of modest relief for manufacturers raise the stakes in trade talks with Washington amid the region’s gloomy economic recovery prospects.
The underlying softness in private surveys released on Tuesday highlights the challenges facing policymakers as they try to navigate U.S. President Donald Trump’s moves to shake up the global trade order with sweeping tariffs.
Japan’s manufacturing activity expanded for the first time in 13 months, and South Korea’s activity contracted at a milder pace, private surveys showed on Tuesday.
China’s Caixin purchasing managers’ index (PMI) also expanded in June due to an increase in new orders, confounding an official survey that showed activity shrinking for a third straight month.
However, stalled trade talks with the United States, prospects of weakening global demand and lacklustre growth in China will likely weigh on Asia’s factory activity, analysts say.
“Overall, manufacturing supply and demand recovered in June,” said Wang Zhe, economist at Caixin Insight Group on China’s PMI.
“However, we must recognise that the external environment remains severe and complex, with increasing uncertainties. The issue of insufficient effective demand at home has yet to be fundamentally resolved,” Zhe said.
The Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing PMI rose to 50.4 in June from 48.3 in May, surpassing analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll and the 50-mark that separates growth from contraction.
Japan’s final au Jibun Bank PMI rose to 50.1 in June from 49.4 in May due to an upswing in output, but overall demand remained weak as new orders shrank on uncertainty over U.S. tariffs, a private sector survey showed.
Factory activity in South Korea contracted for the fifth straight month in June at 48.7, though the pace of decline eased due to companies’ relief over a snap presidential election on June 3 that ended six months of uncertainty.
“Volatility in U.S. tariff policy and economic recovery uncertainty are expected to persist in the second half,” South Korean Industry and Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun said, underscoring the urgency in Seoul to reach a trade deal with the United States.
The comments came after separate June data showed exports from Asia’s fourth largest economy rebounded but shipments to the U.S. and China remained weak.
Steep tariffs imposed by Trump have upended global trade and heightened uncertainty for many Asian economies heavily reliant on exports to the U.S. market.
Negotiators from more than a dozen major U.S. trading partners are rushing to reach agreements with Trump’s administration by a July 9 deadline to avoid import tariffs jumping to higher levels.
While China is continuing negotiations for a broader trade deal with the U.S., Japan and South Korea have so far failed to gain concessions on tariffs imposed on their mainstay export items like automobiles.
Factory activity in many other countries in Asia shrank.
Indonesia’s PMI fell to 46.9 in June from 47.4 in May, while that of Vietnam stood at 48.9 in June, down from 49.8 in the previous month, the private surveys showed.
Malaysia’s PMI rose slightly to 49.3 last month, from 48.8 in May, while that of Taiwan dropped to 47.2 in June from 48.6 in the previous month, the surveys showed.
(Reporting by Leika Kihara)
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