Japan’s exports to the United States dropped 11.1 per cent in December and slipped more than four per cent last year, official figures showed Thursday, as tariffs bite.

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

A drop in the number of cars and auto parts exported, as well as rise in imports of liquefied 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 per cent to 1.81 trillion yen ($11.4 billion), with the trade surplus shrinking 31.7 per cent to 690.6 billion yen ($4.4 billion).

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

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

However, Tokyo officials and business leaders have said the 15 per cent 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.