Japan records trade surplus as exports, imports fall

 Japan’s exports fell 9.2% in October from year before, biggest drop in three years as U.S.-China tre war and tensions with South Korea bit into demand.

tariff war between U.S. and China has taken a toll across Asia, hurting manufacturers and supply chains.

Imports slumped nearly 15%, resulting in country’s first surplus in four months, according to customs data released Wednesday.

weaker tre data reflect lower oil prices but also mounting pressure on ecomy from a mainstay of growth at a time when consumers are justing to an Oct. 1 sales tax hike.

Exports to U.S. dipped 11% from a year earlier in third straight month of declines, with weaker shipments of cars, auto parts and machinery. Imports from U.S. fell 17% year-on-year, Finance Ministry said Wednesday.

Shipments to China, Japan’s biggest export market, dropped 10%.

Two-way tre with South Korea in October sank 41%, with both exports and imports falling as relations between neighbors and U.S. allies languish at ir worst level in deces amid antagonisms over longstanding historical issues and disputes over high-tech exports.

Overall, imports totaled 6.56 trillion yen ($60.5 billion) while exports were 6.58 trillion yen ($60.6 billion), leaving a tre surplus of 17.3 billion yen ($159 million).

Analysts said lower export prices exaggerated decline, but y forecast still weaker demand in coming months.

justed for price changes, imports fell only 2.3% in October from same month a year earlier, Tom Learmouth of Capital Ecomics said in a commentary.

That “supports our view that domestic demand was relatively resilient following sales tax hike in October,” he said.

But relatively weak global demand suggest that export volumes will fall furr in 2020. Learmouth forecast a 2.7% decline in exports in coming year after a 2% drop this year.

On domestic front, increase in sales tax to 10% from 8% appears to have h less impact than earlier hikes, ecomists say.

A downturn in high-tech industry, especially for computer chip makers, also is thought to have bottomed out, raising hopes for a recovery in that sector.