ASIAN factories extended a global manufacturing revival as activity picked up steam in February, though the outlook for many of the region’s export-reliant economies remained uncertain in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist stance.

    Manufacturing surveys for Asia showed a broadly positive impulse for exports in a welcome sign for many of the companies tapped into the global supply chain.

    Trump, however, remained the great unknown risk factor for Asia and the rest of the world.

    In a key speech to Congress on Tuesday, Trump outlined his plan for his first year in office that included health care and tax reforms, but he did not announce anything new on trade.

    Trump’s protectionist stance has rattled global markets, with policymakers and investors remaining on edge until they see more clarity, and specific details, on U.S. economic policies.

    Authorities in China can take comfort from a private survey showing factory activity expanded for an eighth consecutive month thanks to a pick-up in export orders.

    Zhou Hao, an economist at Commerzbank, expects “bubble deflating” will remain a key theme at the upcoming National People’s Congress, underscoring challenges for policymakers in China as an explosive rise in debt in recent years has stoked speculative asset bubbles.

    The encouraging factory activity in Asia should also be squared off against rising interest rates in the United States, where any tempering in activity could prove detrimental to some of the region’s globe-trotting manufacturers.

    A handful of Federal Reserve policymakers Tuesday jolted markets into higher expectations for a March U.S. interest rate increase, with comments that suggested rate-setters were worried about waiting too long in the face of pending economic stimulus from Washington.

    Similar surveys today are expected to show solid growth in manufacturing in Europe and the United States.

    China’s exports, which have lagged its regional counterparts in recent months, showed signs of a pick-up with the Caixin PMI sub-index for new export orders rising to 53.8, the highest rate of growth since September 2014.

    That bounce in new orders was echoed in South Korea, where exports grew at their fastest pace in five years supported by a pick-up in global demand and from China.

    In Japan, the picture was mixed, even as a pick-up in manufacturing activity at its fastest pace in three years was accompanied by strong export orders. Question marks remain about domestic demand, and shipments to the United States, which have failed to show strong growth in the past year.

    Indeed, January exports growth slowed and data Tuesday showed factory output unexpectedly fell for the first time in six months in Japan while headline PMI figures out of China showed signs of slowing.

    In Australia, investors had a lot to cheer as data showed the economy rebounded sharply last quarter thanks to a boom in commodity exports, extending the resource rich nation’s 25-year streak of uninterrupted expansion. (SD-Agencies)