FOCUS: Trump Tariffs Already Hurting Japan Biz Sentiment

   Tokyo, April 2 (Jiji Press)--The Bank of Japan's latest "tankan" quarterly survey for March has already revealed the negative impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on the Japanese economy.
   If the Trump administration actually imposes the proposed 25 pct tariffs on imports of finished automobiles on top of the existing duties, the economy would sink deeper, analysts warn.
   According to the Match tankan, released Tuesday, business sentiment among large manufacturers deteriorated for the first time in four quarters, although sentiment broadly improved in the nonmanufacturing sector thanks to progress in industry-wide efforts to hike sales prices to offset rising labor and other costs.
   In particular, the diffusion index for steelmakers' current business conditions plunged 10 points from the previous tankan survey for December last year to minus 18, as a result of Trump imposing additional 25 pct tariffs on steel and aluminum products on March 12. The DI represents the percentage of companies seeing good business conditions minus that of those feeling the opposite.
   The tariff surge may slash U.S.-bound exports of steel products including processed ones by several million tons, Nippon Steel Corp. President Tadashi Imai, also chairman of the Japan Iron and Steel Federation, pointed out.

(2025/04/02-19:17)