NHK reported this afternoon that according to a survey of 1,000 companies nationwide conducted by the Finance Ministry from December to mid-January, 18% of the 500 companies that responded said they have been affected by increased export costs due to the additional tariffs imposed on Chinese products by the U.S. and a decline in orders received due to Japanese companies’ reluctance to invest in China. However, 56% of the companies that have been affected said they have not taken any steps to deal with this situation, reflecting the difficulty of addressing the issue.