Japan‘s exports to the United States totalled $148.33 billion in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 9.9%, according to Commerce Department data that includes only goods, not services.
Mostly, Japanese shipments to the US market comprise autos, auto parts, semiconductor manufacturing machinery and equipment, and bulldozers.
Conversely, Japanese imports from the US were $80.317 billion, up 7.7% over 2021.
This gave Japan a trade surplus of 68.013 billion dollars, an increase of 12.8%, at an annual rate.
The United States and Japan, two of the world’s three largest economies, are key trade and investment partners.
In bilateral automotive trade, Japanese exports were $48.558 billion in 2022, up 2.5 per cent, and US sales were only $2.246 billion, up 1.4 per cent.
Japan’s exports
At their first «Economic 2+2» meeting in July 2022, US and Japanese officials emphasised common priorities and the need to increase the competitiveness and resilience of their economies in a context of global economic risks and uncertainties.
At the end of 2022, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced a new ¥39 trillion ($264 billion) package of economic measures to facilitate economic relief from rising food and energy prices.
According to a US congressional analysis, several long-term challenges (e.g., a declining working-age population) also remain perennial economic concerns for Japan.
Kishida’s priorities include support for supply chain security, broader income redistribution, greater use of digital technologies and green growth.
The Bank of Japan, unlike other central banks, has maintained a loose monetary policy and acted to avoid interest rate hikes, which in turn has put downward pressure on the yen: it fell to its lowest level in 24 years against the dollar in 2022.
While Japanese authorities have historically praised the yen’s weakness, the effect on import costs is also a growing concern.
Japan imports mainly gas, blood, medicines, turbojets, corn, electronic integrated circuits and medical instruments from the United States.
