Japan Exports:

 https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20210121/p2g/00m/0bu/082000c

Article:

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's exports in 2020 plunged 11.1 percent from the previous year, marking the largest fall in 11 years, as the new coronavirus pandemic battered global demand for industrial products such as cars, government data showed Thursday.

The annual drop was the sharpest since a 33.1 percent dive logged in 2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis, according to a preliminary report by the Finance Ministry. Exports in 2020 stood at 68.41 trillion yen ($660 billion), the lowest level since 63.75 trillion yen in 2012.

By item, the country's car exports plummeted 20.0 percent from 2019, and those of auto parts declined 19.1 percent.

Imports dropped 13.8 percent to 67.73 trillion yen, the steepest decrease since a 15.8 percent slide in 2016, mainly due to the falling price of crude oil and other energy resources. The figure was the smallest since 66.04 trillion yen in 2016.

Ideas:

Its not a surprise that exports decreased in 2020 because of the virus situation. The decrease in global demand was the major problem but also the challenges related to shipping and the logistics sectors.

A 11.1 percent decrease is never good but it could have been worse. Even if demand was somewhat there, if there was complete shutdown in the shipping and logistics sectors it could have been even worse.

Auto parts go hand in hand with demand for cars, either for replacement parts and even more important for the parts needed to produce the Japanese cars and other cars in the global economy.

Falling oil and energy prices falling may have reduced the value of the imports into Japan but what about the actual volume or imports and not just the value of the imports? Perhaps there was also a drop in the volume too due the the problems with the logistics industries and shipping.

Article:

As a result, Japan marked a goods trade surplus of 674.73 billion yen, the first black ink in three years.

As overseas demand was dampened throughout last year by the global spread of the virus, first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, Japan's monthly exports posted double-digit percentage falls on year between March and August.

But in December alone, the Finance Ministry said, exports saw the first year-on-year rise in 25 months, in a sign that the initial impact of the pandemic has eased. They grew 2.0 percent from a year earlier to 6.71 trillion yen, ending the longest streak of monthly declines on record.

Imports in the reporting month were down 11.6 percent to 5.96 trillion yen, down for the 20th straight month, leading the country to post a goods trade surplus of 751.01 billion yen, the sixth consecutive month of black ink.

All figures were compiled on a customs-cleared basis.

Ideas:

Every country would like to see some kind of trade surplus. And unfortunately sometimes it can become a political issue and not just a business or economic issue.

For example the US will never have a trade surplus, and the US economy is not structured for more exports than imports. 

The US economy is structured, or was or has been, structured as somewhat free and open economy, and with a large consumer base, and as such companies from around the world want to enter the US market and sell their products and services to a willing and able US consumer base.

Of course we can say the same thing about China now, both with a large and willing consumer base and with companies around the world wanting to enter the Chinese market to sell their products and services.

But we can say the same thing about the Japanese market and Japanese consumers, but it will never be on the same scale as China and the US. 120 million in Japan does not compare to 340 million in the US or even China's 1 billion + potential consumers.

Putting trade barriers aside along with any other area that might make it a challenge to enter the Japanese market or any market really, its still and always will be about consumer choice and consumer demand.