ABSTRACT
Among German exports to Japan, motor vehicles are clear leaders at the top of the table, followed by chemical products and non-electrical machinery. The low overall proportion of consumer goods in German exports to Japan is striking; moreover, exports of consumer goods have declined substantially since the mid-1970s. In 1988 the Federal Republic of Germany exported goods worth a total of DM 13.1 billion to Japan. In the same year Japanese products worth over DM 28 billion poured into the Federal Republic. Germany’s chronic trade deficit with Japan amounted to over DM 15 billion. The proportion of German exports taken by Japan—3%—is unusually low in view of the size, purchasing power and economic structure of that dynamic industrial nation. Among Germany’s trading partners Japan thus ranks with countries as small as Denmark and Norway.
