Japan has recorded a decline in exports for the past six months, which is caused by the continuing tension in world trade. According to the country's Ministry of Finance, in May, exports decreased by 7.8% from the same month a year earlier to 5.84 trillion yen. A month earlier, the decline was at 2.4%. Economists estimate that exports were expected to decline by 7.7% in May. More than half of Japanese exports go to Asia. Last month, this region recorded a drop in Japanese exports of 12.1% for the year. Shipments to China, which is Japan’s largest trading partner, fell by 9.7% year-on-year. Thanks to a 9.9% increase in the supply of Japanese cars to the US, exports to this country grew by 3.3%. Japan’s imports in May amounted to 6.8 trillion yen, which is 1.5% less than a year ago. Thus, Japan recorded a trade balance deficit of 967.1 billion yen in May.