Japanese exports got off to a strong start in 2018 with a 12% increase vs. a year earlier. That beat the 10% expected by economists, and was largely due to a 23% rise in machinery exports. Shipments in the automotive sector lagged though (but still rose 7%) due to weakening auto-sales globally. Exports to China led the way with a 31% increase on a year earlier, while shipments to the U.S. only increased by 1%. That was the slowest since April but still resulted in a 5% rise in the 12 month trailing trade surplus to 6.97 trillion yen ($65.4 billion), which will cast a pall over future tra...