Japanese exports continued their decline for the 12th straight month in November, driven by the US-China trade war. According to data released by the government, exports from Japan declined 7.9% YoY in November.

However, the decline was less than economists’ forecasts which were for a reading of 8.6% instead. Exports from Japan were driven lower on account of a fall in shipments of cars and construction machinery to the US and chemical products to Japan.

In volume terms, excluding the impact of exchange rate, exports declined by 5.0% YoY in November, falling for the fourth straight month. This is the largest decline seen since August.

Following the release of this data, the Japanese yen is trading steady against the US dollar after a brief dip lower. At the time of writing, USD/JPY is trading at around 109.46.