Japan records 5th straight fiscal year of trade deficits as Trump’s tariffs hit auto exports

TOKYO (AP) - Japan's trade deficit was 1.7 trillion yen ($10.7 billion) in the fiscal year that ended in March, the government said Wednesday, the fifth straight fiscal year of deficits.

Exports rose 4% from the previous year, while imports inched up just 0.5%, the Finance Ministry reported.

U.S. President Donald Trump's higher tariffs on imports from Japan and other countries have proven to be a harsh blow for global automakers and other manufacturers. Japan's overall exports to the U.S. fell 6.6% in the last fiscal year, with shipments of autos dropping 16%.

However, Japan's trade surplus rose 26% in March from a year earlier in a sign that the export sector is recovering from last year's shocks. Exports jumped nearly 11.7% in March and imports rose almost 10.9%.

Japan's auto giants, like Toyota Motor Corp., have moved much of their production to nations where the vehicles are sold to avoid suffering from such policy shifts. But some automakers still export a large share of their vehicles to the U.S. from Japan.

Japan imports nearly all of its oil and gas and the war with Iran has raised worries over disruptions of oil shipments from the Middle East. Apart from the impact on energy, shortfalls of oil can affect production of naphtha-related products which are key for medical supplies and other plastics.

The Japanese government has tried to assuage the public by noting the country's 254-days of oil reserves for such emergencies, which were established after the so-called "oil shock" of the 1970s. The government is releasing some reserves to stabilize supplies.

Japan is also working on alternative routes other than through the Strait of Hormuz, the main supply route for much of Asia's oil and gas. It is effectively closed because of the war.