Weak Yen leads to trade deficit NOT trade surplus.

[Madison320]

A couple years ago Japan decided to print a bunch of money to weaken their currency and help their trade surplus. Only problem is that the opposite happened, now they have a trade deficit for first time in a very long time. I guess the "experts" were wrong again.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/we...051128481.html

[acptulsa]

Either that or the Bank of Japan decided not to destroy their currency after all by trying to keep up with the Fed's runaway printing presses.

Or Japan is simply the only major economic power around which will do business with Japan and isn't trashing their own economy to the point where no one has any discretionary income at all.

[Zippyjuan]

Part of the problem for Japan is that they have few domestic resources. They have to import a lot of the things they need to produce what they export- including energy and minerals. Also it take a long time for changes in currency value to significantly change trade- to shift foreign production to domestic production. A weaker yen means that imports from China (or other countries) are more expensive but if there aren't alternatives to buying them, reductions in quantities purchased can be offset by having to pay more for the ones you do still import.

[Madison320]

Part of the problem for Japan is that they have few domestic resources. They have to import a lot of the things they need to produce what they export- including energy and minerals. Also it take a long time for changes in currency value to significantly change trade- to shift foreign production to domestic production. A weaker yen means that imports from China (or other countries) are more expensive but if there aren't alternatives to buying them, reductions in quantities purchased can be offset by having to pay more for the ones you do still import.

The bottom line is that weakening your currency simply does not help your trade deficit in any meaningful way. The funny thing is that helping your trade deficit is supposed to be the big selling point for weakening your currency, yet even that doesn't work.

[Ronin Truth]

If you can sell more trade than you buy, you run a surplus.