The earliest historical evidence of wheelbarrows appears in China about 2,000 years ago, a historian explains on YouTube, and it took another 12 centuries before these single-wheeled pushcarts appeared in Europe.

Yet there’s a more recent story about wheelbarrows that holds lessons on current economic affairs — specifically, the US’s trade war against China and the rest of the world.

As Shawn Donnan reports here for Bloomberg Businessweek, President Donald Trump celebrated his 100th day in office during his first term at an Ames True Temper wheelbarrow factory in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. At one point, the plant made 85% of the wheelbarrows sold in the US.

In 2023, the story explains, its private equity owner closed the plant and shifted the work overseas, much to the surprise of local officials. The vacated site now sits as a forlorn example of the unforgiving economics facing American manufacturers. For many businesses, the calculus has only gotten worse since Trump’s latest tariffs.

Eight years after he told the crowd at Ames True Temper that his Made-in-the-USA push was “coming back stronger and better and faster than even I thought,” Trump marked his current term’s 100th day sounding even more confident that tariffs will lure manufacturers and good jobs back to the US.

‘Harming Itself’

For that to happen, though, his trade policy will be pushing against the tide of history and conventional economic thinking because many observers see withdrawing from the global trading system an unforced error.

“By increasing trade barriers towards the global market and without access to low-cost suppliers, the US is primarily harming itself because the advantages of the international division of labor are lost,” Julian Hinz, research director for trade policy at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, said in a report Wednesday.

Here’s more Bloomberg reporting on the past 100 days:

• Trump’s administration has been moving at a breakneck speed, with a flurry of executive orders and actions, including on energy, education, and diversity efforts.
• Xi’s diplomats are fanning out globally with a clear message from China for countries cutting deals with Trump: The US is a bully that can’t be trusted.
• Companies around the world including carmakers, brewers, airlines and packaged food makers are warning that US tariffs are beginning to wreak havoc on their businesses.

—Brendan Murray in London

Bloomberg’s tariff tracker follows all the twists and turns of global trade wars. Click here for more of Bloomberg.com’s most-read stories about trade, supply chains and shipping.

Charted Territory

Import boom | The US merchandise-trade deficit unexpectedly widened in March to a record as companies continued importing goods to get ahead of tariffs, indicating a large hit to the economy in the first quarter. The shortfall in goods trade grew 9.6% from a month earlier to $162 billion, Commerce Department data showed Tuesday. Because imports count against gross domestic product, the data point to a weaker number when the government releases its initial GDP estimate on Wednesday.

Executive orders. Trade wars. Elon Musk and DOGE. Trump’s second term has been nothing short of eventful. Bloomberg reporters recap Trump’s first 100 days in a Live Q&A on May 1 at 11 a.m. EDT. Tune in here.

Today’s Must Reads

• Amazon.com said it will not display the cost of US tariffs on products after the White House blasted the reported move and Trump called Jeff Bezos to complain.
• China’s factory activity slipped into the worst contraction since December 2023. Meanwhile, Beijing is yet to announce regular statistics on trade flows for last week, delaying a closely watched data set as firms cut back on exports to the US.
• India signaled the possibility of “early mutual wins” in its negotiations with the US, as the two nations inch closer to sealing the first tranche of a trade deal by fall of this year.
• Taiwan’s economy grew at the fastest pace in a year, fueled by a surge in exports as companies rushed shipments to avoid US tariffs and rising demand for AI-related hardware. Separately, Thailand’s central bank cut interest rates to shore up business and consumer sentiment that’s been battered by the trade war.
• Cosco Shipping’s profit jumped, along with improved revenue from its transpacific routes, as customers front-loaded shipments. Meanwhile, Kraft Heinz trimmed its annual sales and profit outlook, citing worsening consumer sentiment and the cost of tariffs.
• Trump was open to a possible call with Australia’s government to discuss tariffs he imposed on the ally, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there were “opportunities” for his country arising from America’s trade war.

On the Bloomberg Terminal

• In his first 100 days Trump has ripped up the rule book — on trade, economics, diplomacy and even the rule of law. He’s left investors wondering if Treasury bonds are still a safe haven and whether the dollar will remain the world’s reserve currency, according to Bloomberg Economics. 
• CK Hutchison’s overseas port sale might face lower regulatory hurdles if it excludes Panama, with proceeds likely to exceed $15 billion which can be used to reduce leverage and boost distributions and investments, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
• A bipartisan group of US lawmakers are reintroducing legislation that aims to revive American shipbuilding, riding off momentum of an executive order from Trump announced earlier this month.
• For Bloomberg Economics trade analysis: BECO MODELS TRADE
• Click here for Bloomberg Intelligence’s Tariff Matrix.
• Run SPLC after an equity ticker on Bloomberg to show critical data about a company's suppliers, customers and peers.
• Use the AHOY function to track global commodities trade flows.
• See DSET CHOKE for a dataset to monitor shipping chokepoints. 
• For freight dashboards, see BI RAIL, BI TRCK and BI SHIP and BI 3PLS
• Click HERE for automated stories about supply chains.
• On the Bloomberg Terminal, type NH FWV for FreightWaves content.
• See BNEF for BloombergNEF’s analysis of clean energy, advanced transport, digital industry, innovative materials, and commodities.

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