The world's factories are stalling as tariff pain spreads

The world’s manufacturing powerhouses sent a simple message on Monday: They’re in the doldrums and could be there for a while.

A day after the U.S. and China put more tariffs on each other, key gauges for activity in August across Asia and Europe confirmed the trade war’s deepening bite.

Manufacturing purchasing manager indexes for Japan, South Korea and Taiwan remained in negative territory. India’s factory gauge slid to its weakest in more than a year. Indonesia’s slipped to its lowest since July 2017 and the Philippines, Thailand, and Myanmar all expanded more slowly. Figures for the euro-area, U.K. and South Africa are similarly bleak.