Japanese business leaders once again are touting “made in Japan” labels, promising to return production from overseas to take advantage of the yen’s sharp drop, which has reduced the once sky-high cost of manufacturing here.
It isn’t yet clear how much production is actually being shifted, or how many jobs will be created in Japan. The nation still has a big trade deficit, and exports, while recovering somewhat recently, have yet to show the kind of surgeA transient variation in the current and/or potential at a point in the circuit. anticipated when the yen started to weaken in late 2012.
Analysts say the promise could be realized if the yen remains depressed and others follow the lead of companies such as Canon Inc., Panasonic Corp. and Sharp Corp. In November, exports jumped 10.8% from a year earlier while imports rose only 2.2%, according to new data from the finance ministry.
Bolstering domestic industry is a major goal of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who wants to restore Japan to its former status as an export powerhouse. Japanese manufacturers, like those from other developed countries, had been shifting production to China and other cheaper locations for years. These moves accelerated after the 2008-2009 financial crisis, when the yen soared.