Japan Trade News—Trade between Japan and the rest of the world rose to a record high in exports and imports as global inflationary pressures grew.
There was a noticeable increase in exports last month compared to a year earlier, with steel, automobiles, and semiconductors accounting for the bulk of the rise. While volume increased by just 2%, the value of exports increased by 17.5% from a year ago due to higher pricing. Automotive sales, steel production, and semiconductor production all saw value increases.
According to government figures released Thursday, imports jumped 41.1 percent, with the value of crude oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and coal, all rising more than 100 percent from a year earlier. Government subsidies attempt to alleviate the pain of rising energy prices for consumers.
Japan Trade News: Toyota Takes Precaution
There is an ongoing risk to the global economy because rising inflation might stifle growth rather than boost it. Like the delta variant last year, the omicron variety can exacerbate supply snarls. For the fiscal year ending March 31, Toyota said this week that it expects to miss its manufacturing target.
The weaker yen made imports more expensive and exports cheaper thus, Japan’s trade balance remained negative for the fifth month. Governor Haruhiko Kuroda of the Bank of Japan reiterated this week that the yen’s decline against the dollar, which was 10 percent last year, is beneficial to the country’s economy.
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) stands out as an exception among global central banks aiming to contain increasing prices, with consumer prices well below its 2% objective. As a result, many Japanese businesses are reluctant to pass on increased costs to their customers for fear of losing them. According to Kuroda, there will be no return to “business as usual” for policy.
The ratio of Japanese-made passenger vehicles imported into the United States fell below 17 percent for only the fourth time in the past two decades in October.
It was the third time in six months that imported passenger vehicles from Mexico were more expensive than those from Japan for the second month in a row.
It used to be that Japan was the United States’ second-largest trading partner after Canada; today, it trades in the shadow of Mexico (the current order), Canada (the existing order), and China (the current order), which regularly account for more than 40% of all U.S. exports to the rest of the world. To keep things interesting, we’ll focus on each of the United States’ top 10 trading partners. I discussed the United States’ top three trading partners: Mexico, Canada, and China in a previous column.
Following this piece on Japan, there will be posts on Germany, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, India, and Vietnam, listed in the top ten. These ten account for two-thirds of all U.S. trade, with just the top three accounting for more than 43% this year.
Japan Trade News: Kingdom-Japan Trade Groups Come Together
An agreement in principle has been reached between the Japan External Trade Organization and the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) about the potential of signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) over the next few months.
When asked about the chamber’s collaboration with the Japanese government, CCC vice-president Lim Heng said on January 20 that the two organizations work well together on a wide range of issues in recent Japan trade news. He added that the chamber had sent young Cambodian entrepreneurs to Japan to train and conduct trade and investment activities.
To him in recent Japan trade news, a hypothetical memorandum of understanding (MoU) would serve as a springboard for further collaborations between the two organizations and, eventually, a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA).
Jetro’s partnership with the Japanese embassy in Phnom Penh, he claims, has helped bring in a large number of Japanese investors and traders.
“We have also set up a chamber of commerce representative office in Sendai, Japan to strengthen investment between the two nations,” he said. “We liaise a lot with Jetro in terms of trade and investment.”
Prime Minister Hun Sen signed a decree on December 14 to establish the Sendai office.
According to Heng, Cambodian investment from Japan, particularly in special economic zones (SEZs), has increased recently in new Japan trade news.
According to him in recent Japan trade news, Jetro has played an essential role in promoting and molding this trend, although a Covid-19-induced lack of direct flights has hindered bilateral trade.
According to Heng, there needs to be more cooperation between the two nations’ governments and their investment partners if they want direct flights between the two countries.
On January 18, CCC president Kith Meng and Jetro Phnom Penh Office chief representative Marisa Haruta met to discuss cooperation between the two organizations.
To attract additional Japanese investors to the Kingdom, the meetings focused on deepening collaboration and utilizing Jetro projects and other initiatives and CCC support.
Japan Trade News: New and More Effective Channels for Trade
New and more effective channels of bilateral and regional collaboration between Jetro in Cambodia and the CCC, including in conjunction with the ASEAN-BAC and the East Asia Business Council, could be opened up as a result of the proposed MoU and a similar agreement currently being negotiated between Jetro and ASEAN’s Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC).
In recent Japan trade news, this excellent step forward, the CCC’s Meng stated, “I am delighted and look forward to a more fruitful collaboration with Jetro in the future.”
An economics researcher at Cambodia’s Royal Academy of Cambodia told the New York Post on January 20 that Jetro in Cambodia has for years served as a fulcrum for trade with Japan, fostering government and scientist-to-scientist cooperation with a focus on ASEAN countries’ trade and investment interests.
According to the CCC-Jetro MoU, the Cambodian-Japanese commerce sector will be boosted, and the Kingdom will attract more Japanese investors and technologies.
According to preliminary figures from the Ministry of Commerce, bilateral trade volume between Cambodia and Japan surpassed $1.700 billion in 2021, an increase of 0.49 percent from more than $1.692 billion a year earlier. Figures from November have yet to be released by Jetro.
Exports of Cambodian goods to Japan in 2017 were valued at $1.094 billion, up 3.61 percent from the previous year, while imports of $607 million were down 4.68 percent from the last year, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.
As a result, the Kingdom’s trade surplus with Japan will rise from $0.42 billion in 2019 to $0.49 billion in 2020.
Japan Trade News: Pakistan and Japan Join Hands
Thursday’s meeting between Pakistan and Japan agreed to increase bilateral trade, particularly in agricultural products, and increase cooperation to benefit from each other’s skills and knowledge for the benefit of their citizens, according to recent Japan trade news.
In a discussion between the Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, Mitsuhiro Wada, and the Federal Minister of National Food Security Syed Fakhar Imam, a consensus was reached.
Fakhar Imam, who spoke at the event, stated that agricultural research and value-added technology exchange between the two countries might be beneficial.
He lauded Japan’s high level of mechanization. He asserted that Japan and Pakistan had enormous trade potential, noting Pakistan’s vast export potential for citrus fruits, rice, mangoes, onion, potatoes, fishery, and livestock.
In recent Japan trade news, A value-added sector must be established to make the most of Pakistan’s agricultural resources. According to him, Pakistan has 8 million tons of rice, which might be shipped to Japan.
He stated that Pakistan sold 144,000 tons of mangoes to other countries and that Japan’s mango market had great potential.
According to the minister, the agriculture industry in Pakistan was transformed due to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s effective policy interventions in the face of numerous hurdles.
To him, traditional farming methods in Pakistani agriculture were shaky and needed to be replaced by a more forward-looking approach that focused on technological advancements.
This year’s record harvest of wheat, maize, rice, and other staples is a result of a government investment of billions of rupees in agricultural research, Imam added, citing the fact that in the last 70 years, lack of funding has been the biggest impediment to research in Pakistan.
Mitsuhiro Wada, Japan’s ambassador to Pakistan, informed the minister that processing agricultural products in Pakistan might turn them into high-value goods with enormous potential.
That country is a major exporter of shrimp, mangoes, and rice to Japan,” he told the crowd at the event in recent Japan trade news.
In addition to fisheries, he expressed interest in importing rice from Pakistan and said that Japan already buys rice from Pakistan and has a sizable fisheries market.
Japan’s Ambassador to Pakistan stated that the country was eager to expand trade ties with Pakistan.
The Ministry of National Food Security and Research in Japan and its counterpart in the United States have decided to increase their cooperation and partnership.
