Vehicles waiting for shipment have been parked at a port in Yokohama, Japan on March 27, 2025. We
Tomohiro Ohasumi | Getty images
Increase in Japan exports slowed down for a straight month, Government data showed on WednesdayAs the country reels under the widespread tariff of US President Donald Trump.
2% export growth was in line with the estimates of Reuters-Interested Analysts, which is the fastest since October last year and the worst performance since September when the shipment fell 1.7%.
The country’s imports shrunk 2.2% from a year ago, lower than an estimate of 4.5% decline.
Export of Japan’s transport equipment, including motor vehicles and parts, fell 4.1% in the US since a year ago. Automobiles are the top exports of Japan in the US, accounting for 28.3% of all shipments in 2024, According to customs data.
Japan is being charged 25% levy on your auto, Steel and aluminum exports Prominent American colleagues for the US are also subject to 10% baseline tariff imposed by Trump on most trade partners. Japanese goods also face 24% “mutual” tariffs that have been temporarily suspended.
Trump applied “mutual” tariffs on more than 180 countries including Japan on 2 April, only suspended them for about 90 days after the market turmoil, and allowed business partners to deal with Washington during this period.
According to the region, Japanese overall exports to China and America, its largest trading partner, fell 0.6% and 1.8% respectively. A notable change after the country’s exports 3.1% increased in America in March.
Senior APAC economist Abhijeet Surya, Senior APAC of Capital Economics, said in a note, “There will be a drag on GDP growth in net export Q2.
Japan’s actual GDP signed an annual 0.7% contract in the first quarter this year, showing initial government figures, slowing down stable private consumption and increase in exports.
“Japan’s manufacturers are for a difficult time,” said Stephen Agric, the head of Japan and head of Frontier Markets Economics at Modies Analytics, that the business policy “flip-flop” is the risk of creating risk that waves through the economy, damaging growth.
Even if Japan makes a deal with the US, “the pre-trump conditions are not on a full withdrawal table,” Agrica said.
While Japan was the first to start bilateral trade talks with the US, its conversation stopped. On Tuesday, Japan’s top trade conversation Riosa Akajwa allegedly reiterated that Take us tariff On Tokyo.
He said that Japan will not hurry to seal a business deal. If he damages the interests of the country, he said.
