Japanese exports in September snapped four months of declines, climbing 4.2% year on year, as shipments to Asia saw robust growth, partially offsetting the drop in exports to the U.S.
Exports, however, missed expectations of a 4.6% rise, according to median estimates in a Reuters poll of economists.
The world’s fourth-largest economy saw imports increase 3.3% year on year, reversing course from the 5.2% decline in August and beating the 0.6% growth expected by the Reuters poll.
Japan’s exports had fallen into negative territory as the country grappled with U.S. tariffs with its shipments of automobiles to the world’s largest economy taking a huge hit. Tokyo in July clinched a trade deal with Washington, bringing down tariffs on its exports to the U.S. to 15% from the 25% initially proposed by President Donald Trump.
The data comes a day after the country got its first female prime minister in Sanae Takaichi, after months of political turmoil following electoral losses of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party under former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
