Japan Posts Trade Gap Far Wider Than Forecasts as China Exports Slow, Energy Imports Soar

Japan Posts Trade Gap Far Wider Than Forecasts as China Exports Slow, Energy Imports Soar
A cargo ship and containers at an industrial port in Tokyo, on Feb. 15, 2022. Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
Reuters
Updated:

TOKYO—Japan recorded a trade deficit in March that was more than four times wider than market forecasts, as China-bound exports slowed sharply while soaring energy prices raised the cost of imports, adding to economic challenges brought by conflict in Ukraine.

Outgoing trade was restrained by a decline in car exports and a slowdown in the growth of shipments to Japan’s biggest trading partner China, data showed, indicating continuing risk from global supply constraints and the coronavirus pandemic.