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7 hours ago
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Source: AFP
Small and medium-sized firms similar Mitsuwa Electric that signifier the backbone of Japan's system person weathered galore storms implicit the decades, and institution president Yuji Miyazaki is hopeful they volition besides withstand Donald Trump.
As portion of a run against person and foe, the US president has threatened 25 percent tariffs connected imports of Japanese goods from August 1, having already imposed pugnacious levies connected its vehicles, alloy and aluminium.
However, Miyazaki told AFP that helium was confident.
"We are providing precise specialised products for specialised industries, wherever it is hard to alteration suppliers oregon supplying countries conscionable due to the fact that of boosted tariffs," helium said connected a circuit of the 92-year-old firm.
"I'm not disquieted excessively much, due to the fact that if American companies can't nutrient parts connected their own, they person nary prime but to import those parts careless of tariffs," the descendant of the firm's laminitis said.
With 100 employees, Mitsuwa Electric is not a household name.
But similar millions of different SMEs that relationship for 99.7 percent of Japan's companies, it is world-class successful its specializer niche.
It began making airy bulb filaments and present produces coils, rods, needles, plates, pipes and wires for a scope of goods including car lights, photocopiers and X-ray machines.
In 2022 it won a Guinness World Record for the smallest commercially disposable metallic coil, with a diameter astir fractional that of a quality hair.
Mitsuwa's customers are crossed Asia, Europe and North America and see Japanese engineering elephantine Toshiba and Toyota-affiliated parts shaper Koito Manufacturing.
Miyazaki said the interaction of US tariffs connected the company's business is constricted truthful far, with 1 car assemblage lawsuit asking it to little prices.
"All we can bash is to accommodate to immoderate changes successful the concern environment," Miyazaki said.
Diversify to past
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has sent his tariffs envoy Ryosei Akazawa to Washington 7 times since April to effort to triumph alleviation from the tariffs.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was owed to conscionable Ishiba and Akazawa connected Friday successful Tokyo.
But the premier minister's seemingly maximalist strategy of insisting each tariffs are chopped to zero person been criticised successful immoderate parts, particularly arsenic August 1 approaches.
US-bound exports of Japanese vehicles -- a assemblage tied to 8 percent of Japanese jobs -- tumbled astir 25 percent successful May and June.
The deficiency of a woody isn't helping Ishiba's popularity up of precocious location elections connected Sunday that whitethorn extremity Ishiba's premiership aft little than a year.
What bothers Japanese firms is Trump's unpredictability and the complexity of the tariffs, according to government-backed SME enactment organisation JETRO.
Source: AFP
Since February, the radical has received much than 2,000 enquiries from members astir US tariffs, with a flood of requests since June asking for "the latest information" arsenic the deadline approaches.
Mitsuwa Electric brag Miyazaki admits worrying astir Trump's menace of pharmaceuticals tariffs of 200 percent, oregon if aesculapian instrumentality is targeted.
Together with its wide merchandise range, the diversification of its lawsuit basal has shielded it truthful far, helium said.
This is besides captious for different firms to survive, said Zenkai Inoue, an SME adept and prof astatine the Kyushu Institute of Information Sciences.
"I'm proposing a 'tricycle strategy', which means you person to person (at least) 3 customers successful antithetic regions," helium told AFP.
"For SMEs, securing fiscal stableness by asking banks for their backing is important to past for the clip being, past the adjacent measurement would beryllium expanding their income channels to different markets," helium said.
Inoue added that immoderate Japanese firms had been dilatory to hole for Trump's tariffs, adjacent aft helium said helium would during his 2024 predetermination campaign.
"There was a clip erstwhile Japanese companies, having heavy relied connected the Chinese market, (were) wounded severely by a abrupt alteration successful China's policy. But immoderate of them person not learnt a acquisition capable from that experience," helium said.
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Source: AFP
