Reports related to this article:
Project(s): View 3 related projects in PECWeb
Plant(s): View 3 related plants in PECWeb
en
Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Economic activity in U.S. manufacturing remains in contraction territory, according to a survey by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), as survey respondents continue to indicate U.S. tariffs are affecting their operations.
The ISM's Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI), which tracks 18 manufacturing sectors in the U.S., registered 49% in September, a slight increase from 48.7% in August. However, any reading under 50% indicates contraction in the manufacturing economy, and this month's figure indicates a seventh consecutive month of contraction.
The PMI has been below 50% every month since October 2022 except for January and February of this year.
"In September, U.S. manufacturing activity contracted at a slightly slower rate, with production growth the biggest factor in the 0.4-percentage point gain of the Manufacturing PMI," Susan Spence, chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, said in the latest summary of findings.
In the latest summary of findings, Susan Spence, chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, said production growth was the biggest factor in September's marginal increase. "However, the combined drops in the New Orders and Inventories indexes (4.2 percentage points) exceeded the increase in the Production Index (3.2), rendering the Manufacturing PMI improvement negligible. Last month's increase in new orders (an index gain of 4.3 percentage points from July to August) seems to have flowed through to production but does not appear to be sustainable given the subsequent drop in new orders in September."
Survey respondents continue to indicate President Donald Trump's tariffs are impacting their business operations.
One from Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components said, "Customer orders are depressed for heavy machinery because tariffs are so impactful to high-end capital equipment." Another from Transportation Equipment said, "Business continues to be severely depressed. Profits are down and extreme taxes (tariffs) are being shouldered by all companies in our space ... all capital projects are on hold until there is some level of certainty and customers start to place orders for new equipment again."
Another from Computer & Electronic Products said, "The semiconductor industry is being impacted by high tariff prices on parts from Korea, China and Europe. Our industry is at a low point right now as we race to get new nanotechnology in the U.S."
The state of U.S.-Korea trade talks are as follows: The countries reached a handshake deal to lower U.S. tariffs to 15% from 25%, which Trump earlier imposed, although the president said later that lower tariffs would require an "upfront" $350 billion investment.
News media indicates the follow-up negotiations regarding tariffs and the structure of the investment package have stalled. In a recent interview with Yonhap news agency, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said the two sides were "actively" negotiating.
Cho also said the two countries reached a rough agreement on security, which includes increased South Korean defense spending, in an effort to push down U.S. tariffs. Seoul hopes to announce the security agreement in late October.
Although the White House has not announced anything formal, Trump has mentioned a potential 100% tariff on imported semiconductors, but companies already building or planning to build semiconductor plants in the U.S. would be exempt. For more information, see August 8, 2025, article - Trump Signals 100% Tariff on Semiconductors, With Exemptions.
Despite any negative sentiment facing domestic manufacturing, Industrial Info is tracking hundreds of billions worth of projects under construction in the U.S. Industrial Manufacturing Industry. While the buildout of data centers leads all industry sectors in total investment value, semiconductor-related projects account for around $100 billion.
These include three high-dollar projects set to wrap up in 2026:
Micron Technology Incorporated (Boise, Idaho) and Intel account for about half of the investment value of U.S. semiconductor projects under construction. The latter company has been in the news as of late: two days after Trump's August announcement that the federal government obtained a 10% stake in the company, SoftBank Group (Tokyo, Japan) agreed to purchase $2 billion worth of Intel common stock. For more information on this and Intel's project activity, see August 20, 2025, article - Intel Signs Agreement to Receive $2 Billion Stock Equity Investment.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
The ISM's Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI), which tracks 18 manufacturing sectors in the U.S., registered 49% in September, a slight increase from 48.7% in August. However, any reading under 50% indicates contraction in the manufacturing economy, and this month's figure indicates a seventh consecutive month of contraction.
The PMI has been below 50% every month since October 2022 except for January and February of this year.
"In September, U.S. manufacturing activity contracted at a slightly slower rate, with production growth the biggest factor in the 0.4-percentage point gain of the Manufacturing PMI," Susan Spence, chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, said in the latest summary of findings.
In the latest summary of findings, Susan Spence, chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, said production growth was the biggest factor in September's marginal increase. "However, the combined drops in the New Orders and Inventories indexes (4.2 percentage points) exceeded the increase in the Production Index (3.2), rendering the Manufacturing PMI improvement negligible. Last month's increase in new orders (an index gain of 4.3 percentage points from July to August) seems to have flowed through to production but does not appear to be sustainable given the subsequent drop in new orders in September."
Survey respondents continue to indicate President Donald Trump's tariffs are impacting their business operations.
One from Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components said, "Customer orders are depressed for heavy machinery because tariffs are so impactful to high-end capital equipment." Another from Transportation Equipment said, "Business continues to be severely depressed. Profits are down and extreme taxes (tariffs) are being shouldered by all companies in our space ... all capital projects are on hold until there is some level of certainty and customers start to place orders for new equipment again."
Another from Computer & Electronic Products said, "The semiconductor industry is being impacted by high tariff prices on parts from Korea, China and Europe. Our industry is at a low point right now as we race to get new nanotechnology in the U.S."
The state of U.S.-Korea trade talks are as follows: The countries reached a handshake deal to lower U.S. tariffs to 15% from 25%, which Trump earlier imposed, although the president said later that lower tariffs would require an "upfront" $350 billion investment.
News media indicates the follow-up negotiations regarding tariffs and the structure of the investment package have stalled. In a recent interview with Yonhap news agency, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said the two sides were "actively" negotiating.
Cho also said the two countries reached a rough agreement on security, which includes increased South Korean defense spending, in an effort to push down U.S. tariffs. Seoul hopes to announce the security agreement in late October.
Although the White House has not announced anything formal, Trump has mentioned a potential 100% tariff on imported semiconductors, but companies already building or planning to build semiconductor plants in the U.S. would be exempt. For more information, see August 8, 2025, article - Trump Signals 100% Tariff on Semiconductors, With Exemptions.
Despite any negative sentiment facing domestic manufacturing, Industrial Info is tracking hundreds of billions worth of projects under construction in the U.S. Industrial Manufacturing Industry. While the buildout of data centers leads all industry sectors in total investment value, semiconductor-related projects account for around $100 billion.
These include three high-dollar projects set to wrap up in 2026:
- GlobalFoundries' (Malta, New York) $1.2 billion upgrade at its semiconductor campus in Malta entails adding a packaging facility and installing equipment and systems to manufacture, process, package and test chips for end markets such as artificial intelligence (AI), automotive and aerospace.
- Samsung Group's (Suwon-si, South Korea) $10 billion chip-manufacturing plant in Taylor, Texas will produce the chips used in mobile, 5G, AI and other applications.
- GlobiTech Incorporated's (Sherman, Texas) $1.5 billion second phase at its silicon wafer plant in Sherman will boost manufacturing capacity for wafers supplied to semiconductor giants Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (Hsinchi, Taiwan) and Intel Corporation (Santa Clara, California).
Micron Technology Incorporated (Boise, Idaho) and Intel account for about half of the investment value of U.S. semiconductor projects under construction. The latter company has been in the news as of late: two days after Trump's August announcement that the federal government obtained a 10% stake in the company, SoftBank Group (Tokyo, Japan) agreed to purchase $2 billion worth of Intel common stock. For more information on this and Intel's project activity, see August 20, 2025, article - Intel Signs Agreement to Receive $2 Billion Stock Equity Investment.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
