Japan'S Exports Remained Weak In July

According to foreign media reports, on August 19 local time, data released by Japan's Ministry of Finance showed that Japan's exports remained weak in July due to the continued impact of the epidemic on overseas demand.

According to the data, Japan's export volume in July was 5.3689 trillion yen, down 19.2% year-on-year, the 20th consecutive month of decline, and the fifth consecutive month of double-digit percentage decline, but slightly less than the 20.9% decline previously predicted by economists.

Japan's exports to China rose by 8.2% in July, the first time in seven months to turn up. In addition to the increase in exports of non-ferrous metals such as copper and automobiles, exports of manufacturing equipment such as semiconductors increased by 23.6%, according to the Japan economic news. This shows that China's production activities are the first to restart, and the economic recovery is continuing.

Japan's exports to the US remained weak in July, down 19.5%, the 12th consecutive month of decline. The reason for the sluggish export to the United States is that the demand for Japanese cars and auto parts has plummeted in the United States, which has been hit hard by the epidemic, thus reducing its imports. But the overall decline in Japan's exports to the US in July was also slowly recovering from the nearly halved decline in May to June.

Japan's import volume in July was 5.3572 trillion yen, a year-on-year decrease of 22.3%. The trade balance of exports minus imports was 11.6 billion yen, which was another surplus after three months.

The analysis shows that despite the re opening of major global markets, exports, which are the main driving force of Japan's economic growth, are still weak. In Europe, as well as in some parts of the United States, the sharp increase in cases suggests that recovery in exports may be a long way off.

Although the number of infection cases has increased in recent weeks, Japan's response to the epidemic is still far better than that of the United States and other major markets, but its economic dependence on trade has made its recovery unstable.

At present, the recovery of some countries in the world is in progress. Once the epidemic situation slows down, the economic activities of European and American countries and China will be restored and sustained, which may help to support Japan's export in the future. It is expected that Japanese exports will continue to recover in the third quarter of this year, while imports will maintain the same pace.

However, the current scale of trade is still far from the level before the outbreak, and it is expected that "temporarily" it will remain weak. At the same time, tensions among the big powers, as well as concerns about the further spread of the virus, are likely to cast a shadow over the prospects for recovery.

In the second quarter of this year, Japan's economy fell by 7.8% month on month and 27.8% at an annual rate, the largest decline since comparable data were available. So far, Japan's economy has declined for three consecutive quarters. Analysts believe that the economy is expected to see a month on month rise in the third quarter after the economy bottoms out. However, due to the poor employment environment and income, it is expected that various consumption in Japan will be restrained for a period of time, which will greatly limit the economic recovery.