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We had exhibited at the Japan Jewellery Fair 2018, held at the Tokyo Big Sight for 3 days from 28/08/2018 to 30/08/2018．
At this very point of time, it seems that it is not an exaggeration to say the US – China trade war has finally begun． The political regime is solidifying due to the economic boom in the US, and China imposes its own rules against other countries through economic development．From these situations, the other countries of the world are in the situation that has to move towards building a new order to cope with these two countries．
Until a few years ago globalism and neoliberalism were advocated and freedom of movement of people, goods and money was promoted all over the world． But such a way of thinking is disappearing now．Now,two major economic powers of the United States and China are remarkably active in order to protect and strengthen their own industries by imposing import tariffs mutually, and also try to stimulate domestic demand．
However, the US – China trade war is said to be an economic confrontation arising from the trade imbalance between imports and exports, but there seems to be a different reason behind it. The target of the US to China is security and a substantial reduction of trade deficit. But in recent years the Chinese enterprises has been catching up with American companies in the high-tech sector which is the foundation of the most important strategy of security. China buy out foreign companies using state-owned enterprises to acquires technology and intellectual property rights; they own, diversify and divert it at the national level．Now, it has reached the stage that the US and the rest of the world started to fear and feel frustration against China’s power． In terms of security, the US has strengthened the trade regulations, to protect intellectual property rights and latest technology not to be stolen．
As an example, the US imposed sanctions against ZTE (China’s major telecommunication equipment company); prohibited export into the US and stopped the supply of the US products until 2025． As a result, ZTE was forced into suspension of business operations．The major industry in this industrial policy, so called “Made in China 2025”, which was announced with intention to be a manufacturing powerhouse by the Chinese government, made the US anxious, then trade sanction had been imposed．Extra tax is mainly imposed intentionally on aircraft, industrial robots, semiconductors, and so on, that contain parts from high-tech field which China is aiming to strengthen．
What underlies the US-China trade war is not the economic conflict itself due to the trade deficit, but the technology supremacy battle． As long as the technology improvement of China continues, it is expected that the pressure of the US will further increase and the US-China trade friction will be intensified．Also, due to China’s technological enhancement, the amount of trade in China will increase, and that technology can be diverted for military, then it will develop into a military supremacy conflict also． It seems that the world is currently in such a situation．
However, the value of gold which is regarded as a safe asset even in the trade war that shakes the world economy is not stable．he value of gold as a last resort in case of emergency should rise, but gold is losing its appeal due to the high value of the dollar or rise in the US interest rate． Then, cash outflow is becoming conspicuous from the gold market, and the price of bullion which affecting our industry, such as gold and platinum, is falling． And, because of the CVD synthesis diamond problem, the price of diamond has also declined．In addition, due to abnormal weather such as recent North Osaka earthquake, heavy rain in western Japan, and hot weather, it has a big influence on sales at the retail site． Currently, it seems that our industry is in a very difficult situation．
This jewelry show held under such circumstances was small in scale among the domestic market, and started with little expectation coupled with the situation in Japan. As if it was representing current situation, there had been only a few visitors from the first day. And, I believe that this show had fewest visitors among recent jewelry fair. It was expected that Japanese visitors will be very few, but this time it seemed that there were few overseas’ buyers also．
According to the announcement of the organizer, overseas buyers were supposed to be a total of 800 people, including 200 VIP guests and 600 general visitors,but there was no such impression at all． And, it seemed that there were many voices said ”We would go to H．K． show which would be held after 2 weeks, so would not come to JJF”． As if it represents the current business confidence, when looking at the products that were going to sell, the sales of high-priced products were bad and only low-priced merchandise saleshad been conspicuous．
しかし、現在は商材不足でなかなか良い商材は少なく、良い商材とされるモノは相場が落ちておらず高止まりしています。売れ行きが厳しい中で良い商材は高く、高過ぎると売れず、今後判断がますます難しくなりそうです。
今回はかなり現在の我々の業界が厳しい状況にあると痛感させられるジュエリーショーでありました。今の現状を真摯に受け止め、今後の状況の変化に素早く対応出来るよう取り組んで参ります。今回、この様な中でもご来場頂きました皆様に心より御礼申し上げます。有難うございました。
However, at present, there is a little top selling merchandise due to lack of materials, and the market price of these items are remained high． Among the situation that it is difficult to sell, price of good merchandise is very high． But if it is too high it would not be bought. I think that the judgment will be more difficult in the future．
This jewelry show made us realize that our industry is in a very difficult situation at this moment．We admit the present situation seriously and will work to respond quickly too changes in the future situation. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who visited us even in this harsh situation．Thank you and see you at the next fair．
