Despite the US tariff regime and Persian Gulf turmoil, Japan's exports logged a robust expansion in April, resulting in the third-straight month of trade surpluses, reported the Ministry of Finance on Thursday.
Boosted by tech products, the value of Japan's exports rose to 14.8% on year in April to 10.51 trillion yen, while imports rose 9.7% on year to 10.21 trillion yen, resulting in a monthly goods trade surplus of 309.1 billion yen, reported officials.
Japan's largest geographic export market remained the US, which received 1.93 trillion yen of goods in April, up 9.5% on year.
China registered as the nation's second-largest offshore market, up 15.5% on year to 1.82 trillion yen.
The ASEAN nations received 1.56 trillion yen of Japanese exports in April, up 17.9% on year, while Western Europe took in 1.30 trillion yen of goods, up 22.4% on year.
Japan's exports of semiconductors, aka chips, rose 776.1 billion yen in April, up 41.6% on year.
On the import side, Japan's largest partners were China, with the value of inbound shipments hitting 2.59 trillion yen in April, up 14.9% on year. The US shipped in 1.23 trillion yen worth of goods in the month, up 23.3% on year, and the ASEAN nations exported to Japan 1.67 trillion yen of product in April, up 19.5% on year.
Despite higher crude prices, Japan's imports of petroleum declined 49.9% on year in April to 454.3 billion yen, due in part to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
In contrast, Japan's imports of coal rose to 18.4% on year in April to 292.9 billion yen, reported officials.
"Japan is displaying some resilience despite energy shocks. Its trade balance remained in the surplus zone (in April), driven by stronger-than-expected exports," said ING Think, an arm of the Dutch investment house. "Summing up today's data, we expect GDP (gross domestic product) to remain on a recovery path, though the pace of growth should moderate in the current quarter amid energy supply disruptions."