Jason Andringa’s company was part of the stampede of U.S. businesses that built factories in China.

Iowa-based Vermeer, a 4,000-employee maker of industrial and farm machinery, opened a plant there two decades ago—and Andringa, the company’s president and CEO, frequently visited what many considered the world’s premier fast-growing, future-oriented economy. But the mood of Vermeer and many other global producers has turned sour on China.

“If we didn’t already have a plant in China, we sure wouldn’t start one now,” he said.