Asia’s economies face mixed signals amid global headwinds:

  • Asian manufacturing shrank in August amid rising U.S. tariffs, with Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan all posting contractions. China bucked the trend with a modest uptick in PMI, while India saw its fastest manufacturing growth in over 17 years.
  • The broader threat of deflation is emerging across Asia — excluding hotspots like Japan and Bangladesh — even as inflation remains high elsewhere globally.