Japanese Exports Worldwide are Crashing

There's a bunch of confused people who think, because the yen is going down and the Nikkei is going up, the Japanese economy is on the mend.

They are completely wrong.

Japanese exports to China and to the entire world are crashing.

In November they were down 14.5%; in December, 15.8% to ¥906 billion. Worst hit were cars, trucks, and parts (-47.5%), machinery (-22.2%), and electrical machinery, which includes tech products like semiconductors (-16.8%). Imports from China edged down by 2.1% to ¥1.24 trillion. And the trade deficit jumped by 76.8%.

This debacle is unrelated to the strength of the yen. It’s caused by the deteriorating relationship between two of the world’s largest trading partners. 

And, folks, that's not all good about the yen decline. In fact, it couldn't be worse.

Knocking the yen off its lofty perch—it’s down 11% against the dollar and 15% against the euro since November—won’t have much impact. In that respect, Abe’s cure won’t work.

Then there’s Europe. In December, exports skidded by 12.3% to ¥561 billion, after having plunged 20% in November. To Germany, which now may be in a recession, they declined by 9.2%, to the UK by 10.2%, to France by 16.8%, to Spain by 26.2%, and to Italy by 28.2%.

Read more at Zerohedge.