TOKYO -- Orders for Japanese machine tools declined last month for the first time since November 2016 as the trade war sapped demand from China, the industry's biggest market and a vital growth driver.
Orders slid 1.1% year on year to 139.18 billion yen ($1.22 billion) in October, according to preliminary data released Monday by the Japan Machine Tool Builders' Association. A 1.1% increase in domestic orders to 57.35 billion yen was more than offset by a 2.5% drop in overseas demand to 81.83 billion yen.
