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Tariffs Drive Asian Supply-Chain Shifts; U.S. Backs Rare-Earths Startups By Mark R. Long | WSJ Logistics Report

New orders for exports from Vietnam and Thailand rose last month, while goods producers in South Korea and Taiwan flagged deteriorating demand. The divergence across major Asian exporting economies reflects shifts in supply chains amid worries over U.S. tariffs , The Wall Street Journal's Kimberly Kao writes.

South Korea's purchasing managers index slipped below the 50-mark separating expansion from contraction, while Taiwan's remained below 50, despite rising slightly. Taiwan's actual export earnings have surged, however, on AI-related hardware demand, an analyst said. Thai and Vietnamese factories, meanwhile, got a lift thanks to lower effective U.S. tariff rates compared with Chinese-made goods.

Factories in China continued to expand output last month , but at a slower pace, according to a private gauge of manufacturing activity. New export orders, however, dropped into contractionary territory on trade uncertainties.

Canada took its first formal step

to stop Stellantis from shifting production of its Jeep Compass from a Toronto-area factory to Illinois. (WSJ) Chinese export restrictions on fertilizer are adding to supply constraints

that could push food prices higher. (Nikkei Asia)

When President Trump announced sweeping tariffs in April, economists predicted surging inflation and raised the odds of a recession. Companies and consumers stockpiled to get ahead of price rises. Yet inflation, though above the Fed's target, is lower than forecast. The Journal's Konrad Putzier explains how the economy continues to grow .

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Quotable Critical Materials

Two startups, Vulcan Elements and ReElement Technologies, sealed a $1.4 billion deal with the U.S. government and private investors to establish a domestic rare-earth magnet supply chain, the latest move to counter China's dominance in the sector.

Led by Vulcan, the deal involves a $620 million loan from the Defense Department's Office of Strategic Capital to build and operate a U.S. facility capable of producing 10,000 metric tons of magnets

each year. The Journal's Heather Somerville writes that the Commerce Department is chipping in $50 million and private investors are putting in another $550 million to support the effort to make more of the materials that are essential for everything from AI data centers to jet fighters to EVs.

In return for the funding, Raleigh, N.C.-based Vulcan said the Commerce Department will receive $50 million of its equity. ReElement, which will help in the recycling of old magnets to boost domestic production, secured $160 million from the Office of Strategic Capital and private investors.

Rare-earth stocks fell after Trump said the Chinese rare-earth threat is "completely gone." (Barron's)

Deals

David Cote, the former leader of conglomerate Honeywell International, is going on a shopping spree in a bid to create Honeywell 2.0. The Journal's Lauren Thomas writes that Cote's company, CompoSecure, will acquire Husky Technologies, a provider of injection-molding equipment, from Platinum Equity for about $5 billion, including debt.

It is likely the first of many deals for Cote and former Goldman Sachs banker Tom Knott . Last fall the two acquired a majority stake in CompoSecure, with a plan to use the entity as a platform for deals. They see a chance to combine private-equity-backed companies to create a new industrials conglomerate. Husky was founded in 1953. Its machinery is used to create a variety of plastic products, including medical devices and beverage containers.

Honeywell's aerospace business will keep current leader Jim Currier

in charge after it splits off, while former GE executive Craig Arnold is slated to be the independent company's chairman. (WSJ) Kimberly-Clark agreed to buy

Kenvue for more than $40 billion, combining the maker of Huggies diapers with the owner of Tylenol in one of the biggest takeovers of the year. (WSJ) Kuehne + Nagel plans to acquire

Ireland-based aerospace-logistics provider Eastway Global Forwarding for undisclosed terms. (Dow Jones Newswires) BP agreed to sell interests

in its U.S midstream assets to Sixth Street for $1.5 billion, as it looks for ways to pay down debt. (WSJ) Number of the Day In Other News U.S. factory activity contracted

for the eighth consecutive month in October, with the purchasing managers' index falling to 48.7. (WSJ) Annual inflation in Switzerland crept down closer to zero

last month. (WSJ) Third-quarter results from Berkshire Hathaway's BNSF Railway were in line with last year's

despite tariff pressures on consumer goods and other products transported by rail. (WSJ) Chinese automaker Geely reached a deal with Renault Group to take a 26.4% stake

in the French company's Brazilian business. (WSJ) France threatened to ban

Shein after regulators discovered it was selling child-like sex dolls on its platform ahead of the opening of its first permanent location in Paris. (WSJ) Mediterranean Shipping Co. plans to shift

a dozen of its containerships to India's registry, following similar flag changes by rivals CMA CGM and A.P. Moeller-Maersk. (Journal of Commerce) Shipments of corrugated boxes in the U.S. fell to their lowest third-quarter level in a decade , according to the Fibre Box Association, reinforcing concerns about holiday season retail sales. (Bloomberg) Assailants failed to board a Stolt-Nielsen tanker they attacked off the coast of Somalia , but evidence is emerging of a growing piracy threat linked to al-Shabaab and Yemen's Houthis. (Lloyd's List) United Parcel Service will raise its rates

by an average 5.9% for ground, air and international services starting Dec. 22. (SupplyChainDive) The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen said it reached a tentative five-year labor agreement

with railroads represented by the National Carriers' Conference Committee. (TrainsPRO) Delta Air Lines Cargo plans to expand

at Salt Lake City International Airport with a new $18 million air-cargo facility scheduled to open in 2027. (Air Cargo News) Dockworkers escalated a strike

at Bangladesh's Chattogram Port to protest plans to lease terminal operations to foreign companies. (Sourcing Journal) About Us

Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at [mark.long@wsj.com]. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long , Liz Young and Paul Berger .

This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 04, 2025 07:05 ET (12:05 GMT)

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