TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan said on Tuesday the trade agreement it struck with the U.S. cleared uncertainties on U.S. trade policies but continued attention needs to be given to risks of those policies putting downward pressure on the Japanese economy.
Tokyo clinched a trade deal with Washington last week, lowering tariffs to 15% from a previously proposed 25%, including on autos, a mainstay of the export-reliant economy.
In the Cabinet Office’s monthly economic report for July, the government maintained an overall assessment that the Japanese economy is recovering “at a moderate pace,” although effects from U.S. tariffs are seen in some areas including cars.
“Regarding the tariff measures that had already been implemented, the export prices of automobiles to the U.S. have fallen significantly since April,” a Cabinet Office official said at a press briefing.
However, the official said there are no particular signs of change in export volumes, manufacturing price indexes or employment due to the tariffs.
“We had been saying that there was a heightened risk of a downturn (in the Japanese economy) due to the impact of U.S. trade policy, but we don’t think that is the case at this point,” the official said, citing a slew of trade deals the U.S. had concluded with countries.
“On the other hand, the risk of a downturn remains, so we need to keep an eye on that.”
Elsewhere in the report, the Cabinet Office downgraded its assessment of exports for the first time in a year, reflecting a slowdown in semiconductor manufacturing equipment exports to Taiwan and South Korea.
The government also revised its language on domestic corporate goods prices for July. It said the pace of growth is “slowing down” recently, having in June said they were “gradually rising”, attributing the change to the government’s energy subsidies and slower growth in food prices.
On private consumption, which accounts for more than half of Japan’s economy, the government retained its view that it is picking up.
(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by David Holmes)
