New commercial surplus with the USA, pending duties
Japanese exports are growing for the fourth consecutive month, pulled by the automotive sector and the pharmaceutical sector, in a phase of progressive devaluation of the Yen. According to data from the Ministry of Finance, in January the expansion was 7.2% to 7,860 billion yen, equivalent to 49.5 billion euros, marking a record in value for the first month of the year, while the imports grew by 16.7%. Based on data, the commercial disavant is settled at 2,760 billion yen (17.40 billion euros), taking into account a 9% devaluation of the Japanese uniform on the dollar compared to January 2024. With the United States Japan has a commercial surplus of 477 billion yen, and an increase in export of 8.1%, supported once by the robust shipments of cars on the main outlet market for the sector. On the contrary, with the European Union, the commercial deficit settles at 403.4 billion yen, remaining in red for the twelfth consecutive month.
As for the recent plan of American president Donald Trump, announced last week to increase the duties on imports of cars, the Japanese ministry said that “it will carefully monitor the potential impact”, without deepening the details. The US market is the main destination for Japanese car manufacturers, with about a third of total exports. According to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, in 2023 the cars exported to the United States amounted to around 1.44 million.
Trump claims that the duties will help to relaunch national production and reduce the commercial deficit of the United States, and last week announced a 25% tax on all steel and aluminum imports, which will come into force on March 12.
