Trade balance in the first half of 2019 ends with deficit affected by the US-China trade war

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According to the trade statistics for the first half of 2019 announced by the Ministry of Finance on July 18, Japanese trade balance which is the value of exports minus that of imports was a deficit of 888.8 billion yen for the second consecutive period following last year.
Due to trade friction between the US and China, exports to China fell for the first time in five quarters. The breakdown was that exports amounted to  38,240.4 billion yen, down 4.7% from the same period last year and imports amounted to 39,129.2 billion yen, down 1.1%.
It is the first time in two years since 2017 that the export for first half fell below 40 trillion yen. The imports fell for the first time since the second half of 2016.
The trade balance between China was the deficit of 2,049.3 billion yen.
Exports to China fell by 8.2% to 7,030.1 billion yen, as the US-China trade friction slowed the economy and curbs capital investment in the country.
Equipment to manufacture semiconductors for liquid crystal devices decreased by 21.4% and semiconductors and related parts for integrated circuits decreased by 14.4%.
As for the United States, Japan posted a surplus of 3,459 billion yen for the first half since the second half of 2017.
Exports increased 5.2% to 7,811.8 billion yen with strong sales of automotive and semiconductor products.
The demand to eliminate the deficit may intensify in negotiations for the new US-Japan trade agreement because US President Donald Trump has been taking the issue of the trade deficit with Japan.

 Photo provided by the Nagoya Port Authority

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