Japan’s Trade Surplus with U.S. Falls 12.6% Last Year amid U.S. Tariffs, First Decline in Five Years

TOKYO – The Donald Trump administration’s tariff shock pushed Japan’s exports to the United States down 4.1% last year from the previous year, marking the first decline in five years. Japan’s trade surplus with the U.S. also shrank by 12.6%.
According to preliminary 2025 trade statistics released by the Ministry of Finance Japan (MOF) on the 22nd, Japan’s exports to the U.S. fell 4.1% year-on-year to 20.414 trillion yen (about 189 trillion won). It was the first time in five years that Japan’s export value to the U.S. had declined.
Exports of automobiles to the U.S. dropped 11.4% from a year earlier to 5.3409 trillion yen (about 49.5 trillion won).
The average unit export price, calculated by dividing export value by volume, fell 10.4% to 3.92 million yen (about 36.3 million won). This was the first decline in average unit prices in six years. Nihon Keizai Shimbun (The Nikkei) commented, "It appears to be the result of Japanese automakers prioritizing exports of lower-priced models, or cutting export prices to absorb tariff costs themselves in order to mitigate the impact of tariffs."
Imports from the U.S. rose 1.6% to 12.8926 trillion yen (about 119 trillion won). As exports fell while imports increased, Japan’s trade surplus with the U.S. came to 7.5214 trillion yen (about 70 trillion won), down 12.6% from a year earlier.
Exports to China slipped 0.4% to 18.7795 trillion yen (about 174 trillion won), the first decline in two years. Imports from China increased 5.5% to 26.6941 trillion yen (about 247 trillion won), driven by higher imports of electronic products such as PCs and smartphones.
Japan’s overall trade balance showed a deficit of 2.6507 trillion yen (about 24.5 trillion won). Although this marked the fifth consecutive year of deficit, the size of the shortfall narrowed by 52.9% from the previous year.
Total exports rose 3.1% to a record 110.448 trillion yen (about 1,023.5 trillion won). Imports edged up 0.3% to 113.0987 trillion yen (about 1,048 trillion won).
In December last year, Japan posted an overall trade surplus of 105.7 billion yen (about 1 trillion won). It was the second consecutive month of surplus, but the surplus narrowed by 12.1%.
In the same month, imports from China jumped 14.7% year-on-year to 2.464 trillion yen (about 23 trillion won).
An MOF official stated that there was no significant impact observed from export controls imposed by the Government of the People's Republic of China.
China has taken economic retaliatory measures, including issuing travel advisories, after Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae suggested possible involvement in the event of a contingency in Taiwan in November last year. Earlier this month, Beijing also announced export controls on certain materials that include rare earth elements.


sjmary@fnnews.com Reporter Seo Hye-jin Reporter