New Delhi, May 19 -- April's tariff thunderstorm cooled manufacturing in many of Asia's export engines-except India's.

Manufacturing in every major Asian economy with a trade surplus with the US shrank during the month, as US president Donald Trump's 2 April reciprocal tariffs cast a cloud over global trade.

China's official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 49 in April from 50.5 in March, indicating a contraction. The decline, the fastest in 16 months, is largely attributed to the reciprocal tariffs announced by the US, which went up to 145% tariffs by 9 April.

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A large part of this was subsequently rolled back this month followin...