By Yuka Obayashi and Katya Golubkova
TOKYO – Japanese trading companies Mitsui & Co, Sumitomo Corp and Sojitz released their cautious profit forecast for the fiscal year on Thursday as U.S. tariffs threaten global supply chains and increase economic uncertainty.
Japan’s top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa attempted to hold a tariff deal in the United States this week with President Donald Trump’s administration.
Bank of Japan on Thursday significantly lowered its economic growth for the year ended March 2026 from 1.1% to 0.5%, and kept interest rates unchanged because tariffs weigh on exports.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, a minority shareholder, said its annual net profit would fall 15% to 770 billion yen, citing a decline in profits from its machinery and infrastructure businesses by 43 billion yen.
“We are particularly cautious in the mechanical sector, with supply chains all over the world, and in the North American automotive business, we have taken a conservative approach to setting profits,” CEO Kenichi Hori said in a press conference.
“In addition, we have made conservative assumptions about energy and metal prices,” he said, but added that tariff-driven supply chain disruptions could also create opportunities for Mitsui to leverage its trading capabilities to support customers in finding alternative sources.
Sumitomo (Berkshire Hathaway is also a minority shareholder) expects high net profit this year to be 570 billion yen, but a buffer zone of 40 billion yen is allocated to hedge the potential impact of U.S. tariffs.
“We are facing a different risk of a global recession than anything we have experienced,” said CEO Shingo Ueno, noting that we and China’s economy are slowing down, weaker U.S. dollar, high interest rates, rising materials and labor costs.
Meanwhile, Sojitz predicted net profit of 115 billion yen for the current fiscal year, up 4% from the previous year, after having a negative impact on tariffs of 5 billion yen.
“There will be a direct impact on our North American car sales and an indirect negative impact on Southeast Asia due to U.S.-China tensions,” said CEO Kosuke Uemura.
“But reshaping trade flows also brings new opportunities,” he added.
This article was generated from the Automation News Agency feed without the text being modified.
