Canada was one of two countries to register a decline in the value of its imports from Japan. Germany has become a less important trading partner for Japan and the value of both its imports from and exports to Japan declined over the 4-year period. Economic recovery in Europe, however, should boost Japan's trade, particularly Japanese exports, with countries in that region in the future. The move of production offshore, specifically to Asia, has produced not only an expansion of Japan's imports from that region, but a shift in the product composition of Japan's exports and imports. The United Kingdom, where Japan registered only a 17 percent increase in exports, and Germany, where Japanese exports fell by 1.0 percent, became less important export markets.
China is also one of Japan's most important and fastest growing export destinations.
The 8.4 percent climb in Asia's share of Japan's exports is due to a combination of increased exports to Asia and minimal growth in the value of exports to all other regions. The United States lost nearly 2 percentage points in its share of Japan's exports over the 4-year period. Capital goods, including primarily office machine parts, automobile parts, integrated circuits, semiconductors, and chemicals, now make up over 60 percent of Japanese exports. Many of these goods are destined for factories in Southeast Asia and reflect the shift of Japanese production overseas. Consumer durables exports declined by 4.8 percent, exports of electrical appliances dropped by 5.8 percent, and passenger car exports declined by 5.3 percent.