Japan's twin worries: Trade and yen

TOKYO -- Japan's carmakers fear a double whammy on free trade and foreign exchange.

Yoshihiro Yano, secretary general of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, said automakers are waiting to see whether Donald Trump delivers on his promise to renegotiate NAFTA and abandon the Trans Pacific Partnership free-trade talks.

"If that's the case, it could be a tough situation," Yano said.

Japanese carmakers have aggressively added capacity in Mexico as a low-cost export base to the U.S. And the Tokyo government is a big backer of the TPP, which it hopes will open new markets to Japanese exports and reverse the hollowing out at home.

A more immediate broadside, however, might come from the yen. 

Profits were already plunging from the Japanese currency's yearlong appreciation. The yen surged even higher immediately after Trump's win. 

It declined later, but the moves underscore the kind of uncertainty that gives Japan jitters. 

"We've seen and we'll probably see some volatility," Nissan Motor Co. CFO Joe Peter warned the day before the election, adding that, long term, things should level out. 

"If you look at the U.S., it's a very strong economy," he said. "I have confidence that over the normalization period, we should continue to see a good environment." 

Mazda Motor Corp. CEO Masamichi Kogai withheld judgment on the auto trade but expressed a different concern over Trump's hawkish statements on foreign policy. 

"Speaking as a Hiroshima-based company," Kogai said, "I hope that he will create a world that can ensure people's peace of mind and security."