In 2025, Japan’s exports to the United States fell 4.1%, contributing to a 12.6% decline in Tokyo’s trade surplus with Washington to 7.5 trillion yen (US$47 billion), finance ministry data showed.

A drop in the number of cars and auto parts exported, as well as rise in imports of liquified petroleum gas, cereals and power-generating machines, were primary factors in Tokyo’s shrinking trade surplus with Washington, according to the data.

In December, Tokyo’s exports to Washington fell 11.1% to 1.81 trillion yen (US$11.4 billion), with the trade surplus shrinking 31.7% to 690.6 billion yen (US$4.4 billion).

In July, Tokyo and Washington announced a trade deal lowering tariffs to 15% from a feared 25%.

Crucially, that reduction included the auto sector, an industry that accounted for 30% of Japanese exports to the United States in 2024.

However, Tokyo officials and business leaders have said the 15% tariffs are still high compared with the period before the second Trump administration.

Japan’s overall trade account logged a deficit of 2.65 trillion yen in 2025, its fifth consecutive deficit.