Japan's exports to US fall for 3rd straight month
That appears to be the result of tariffs imposed by the administration of President Donald Trump.
The ministry announced on Thursday the value of shipments fell 11.4 percent in yen terms from the same month last year.
The drop was particularly sharp in the auto sector. Exports were down 26.7 percent. The number of vehicles was up, but their average price was down nearly 30 percent to around 22,800 dollars.
Carmakers are believed to be cutting prices or shipping less expensive models to offset the tariffs.
Japan's overall exports stood at about 62 billion dollars in June, down half a percent from last year.
Imports ticked up 0.2 percent to about 61 billion dollars, translating into a slight trade surplus of 1.03 billion dollars.
The ministry also says Japan had a trade deficit of over 2.2 trillion yen, or nearly 15 billion dollars, for the first six months of the year.
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Yomiuri Shimbun
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Nominally, the Trump administration's Section 232 investigation into polysilicon imports should be beneficial to Hanwha Q Cells, a Korean firm that manufactures solar panels in the United States. According to the International Energy Agency, China accounts for 93 percent of global manufacturing of polysilicon, making U.S. manufacturers dependent on Chinese sources of polysilicon for the production of solar panels. Hanwha Q Cells is investing $2.5 billion to develop the sole U.S.-sourced supply chain for the production of solar panels in the United States, but has struggled to ease its dependence on China for polysilicon. OCI, another Korean solar manufacturer, is also working to develop a non-China solar power supply chain in the United States utilizing polysilicon from its facilities in Malaysia. 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