Japan chief cabinet secretary Hayashi warns on becoming target of Trump tariffs

Japan chief cabinet secretary Hayashi on the data and tariffs:

• Japan faces significant challenges if its companies become targets amid Trump’s policies; the government will respond carefully to potential impacts
• exports, particularly in services, demonstrated growth, counterbalancing the decline in domestic demand, while the year’s value rose by 2.9% year-on-year, exceeding 609.3 trillion yen for the first time
• domestic demand showed positive trends over the past three and a third quarters, despite personal consumption experiencing negative growth due to reduced disaster-related storage needs and a decline in beverage demand
• domestic demand is increasing, primarily driven by equipment investment, despite the impact of a stock market crash and pauses in production and delivery by some automakers
• looking ahead, continued improvement in employment and income is expected to support economic recovery

ICYMI, Japan’s strong data earlier:

• Japan Q4 GDP surges to +2.8% annualized (from +1.0% expected), deflator hits 2.8% – yen up

• USD/JPY traded under 152.00 after the very strong Q4 economic growth data

Akazawa is urging caution:

• Japan economy minister Akazawa is wary about the strong GDP result

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.