Japan records trade deficit of ¥2.76 trillion in January as tariff worries loom

Find better market, make deal with better and reliable country like Europe is the only solution.

@Wasabi

I agree.

Just let the arrogant ignoramuses stew in their own juices for the next four years.

""Find better market, make deal with better and reliable country like Europe is the only solution.""

There is NO "better markets" the U.S. consumers are the best in the world has been and will always be unless you want to Used Auto's to Europe, Russia, China, South America, Africa, and the middle east.

How about going with the wind instead of against it for a change.

Wait, so a trade deficit with everyone else combined but a surplus with the USA?

Trade's going to get a lot tougher moving forward with Trump's 'reciprocal'/matching tariffs, Japan's auto sector especially, including Mexico and Canada.

Maybe Japan will move more production into the US, as they are doing with China. Trump's simply copying China, demanding vehicles be made domestically in order to create jobs and tax revenues = smart.

For Heaven's sake fix the domestic economy. Tax breaks for those who are actually producing. Domestic food production needs to be ramped up.

Japan's exports have not increased much, but high oil prices, currency fluctuations, and a trend of China's imports shrinking are the causes of the current trade deficit.

What is needed now is to rebuild Japan's domestic economy, or rather, to stimulate domestic demand. However, incomes have not risen since the 1980s, and with the economy sluggish, consumer confidence is very weak.

Large-scale tax cuts and income-increasing policies are also needed.

Is there ANYTHING WRONG with asking for "'Reciprocal'/Matching Tariffs? If you can't meet them join them!!!

So how many more decades should the US be expected to fund Japan with the trade imbalance?

Ryder...or you could ask...Why do US consumers and business want Japanese products over US made ones.?

Not really "one nation funding another " in a free trade world...it is consumers making choices.

Tariffs would not undo this .

So how many more decades should the US be expected to fund Japan with the trade imbalance?

Idiotic. How long does my local conbini expect me to fund them with our trade imbalance?

Mercantilism died centuries ago, as did the logic of MAGA.

Japan wanted a weak yen to improve the profits of Japanese big importers now we will all pay the price plus out of control inflation. Well done LDP

Fiddlers...Japanese inflation around 3% at present...pretty standard amongst modern industrial countries.

So not "out of control "...that would be say, Argentina in the 1980,s , at 100% or so.

Weaker currency caused by a number of factors... Govt. not the only or biggest player.

Google "What causes currency fluctuations "...Western Union has a cheat sheet.

Japan was/is in an economic doldrum with zero or under inflation, causing consumers to hold off on purchases.

This impacted growth. Countries need inflation around 3 % a year to "kick things along " out of potential stagnation.

Make it in the USA and avoid all the headache.

So consumption is expected to remain relatively solid because of recent wage growth eh? The author seems to have forgotten all the articles about REAL wage growth, and the fact that consumption rose a paltry 0.1% in Q4. The other factor that drives consumption, other than income, is of course wealth. With the Nikkei having been flat now for twelve months, I don’t see much of that either.