The data are becoming impossible to ignore: American manufacturers desperately need relief from the very same tariffs that the Trump administration incoherently believes are helping American manufacturers.
That conclusion is evident from both results of a new survey of manufacturing companies' CEOs and new economic data showing that manufacturing activity has declined for six consecutive months—the sort of slide over two economic quarters that typically meets the definition of a sector-wide recession. In short, both words and actions point to something being very wrong with American manufacturing since February, which just so happens to be when Trump announced the first of what have become many rounds of new tariffs on imported goods and raw materials.
The economic data come courtesy of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), which tracks a combination of factors including orders, employment, and inventories. A score higher than 50 in the monthly index indicates expansion, while a score below that threshold means contractions. For August, the ISM survey showed a score of 48.7, up from 48 in July.
