Japan’s export growth slowed sharply in August as shipments to the United States fell for the first time in three years, and machinery orders unexpectedly contracted in July in a worrying sign for an economy struggling to make a strong recovery.
Analysts say weak external demand is undermining Japan’s drive for sustainable economic growth, especially as the prospects of a slowdown in the United States and a weakening economy in China, two of Japan’s major trading partners, grow.
Total exports rose 5.6% in August from a year earlier, data released on Wednesday showed, marking the ninth straight monthly increase but well below a median market forecast for 10% growth and following a 10.3% rise in July. That followed a 16.6% rise the previous month.
Exports to the United States fell 0.7% in the first monthly decline in nearly three years, pressured by a 14.2% decline in car sales.
Japan’s exports to China, Japan’s largest trading partner, rose 5.2% in August on an annual basis.
Imports rose 2.3% in August from a year earlier, compared with economists’ expectations of 13.4% growth.
As a result, the trade balance recorded a deficit of 695.3 billion yen ($4.90 billion), compared with expectations for a deficit of 1.38 trillion yen ($9.74 billion).
Separate data from the Cabinet Office showed core machinery orders unexpectedly fell 0.1% in July from the previous month, confounding economists’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 0.5% increase.
