Export trends have been an important factor during Japan
’
s present economic
adjustment period, and the structures of Japanese exports, together with the
imports, have been changing substantially in recent years.
The changes in the
country
’
s export and import
structures
during the 1990s can be characterized by
the following three key developments: (1) the weight of IT-related goods ha
s
been
rising in both real exports and imports; (2) real imports of consumer goods from
East Asia has been increasing; and (3) the US remains Japan
’
s largest trading
partner as a single countr
y
.