ASIAN MANUFACTURING ACTIVITY FALLS TO 17-MONTH LOW AS TARIFFS HIT CHINA-BASED SUPPLIERS: GEP GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN VOLATILITY INDE

  • U.S. manufacturers front-load inventories in anticipation of further tariffs North American factories remain underutilized, with persistent weakness in Mexico and Canada Europe inches toward industrial recovery, while U.K. downturn deepens CLARK, N.J. , June 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- GEP Global Supply Chain Volatility Index — a leading indicator tracking demand conditions, shortages, transportation costs, inventories, and backlogs based on a monthly survey of 27,000 businesses — fell to -0.46 in May, from -0.39 in April, signaling increasing spare capacity across the world's supply chains as a result of tariffs and tit-for-tat trade war.