Mr Schulz of Fujitsu Research Institute added that the slowdown in export growth was resulting in many firms holding back their expansion and investment plans.

BBC: Japan exports and imports fall raising growth concerns

He also denied that Singapore had contributed to any illegal transfer of technology, in response to speculation that the institute had worked with Huawei on semiconductor technology that is tightly controlled under U.S. export regulations.

WSJ: Singapore Probe Becomes Point of Dispute With U.S.

"Deemed export controls have very limited efficacy for a relatively high cost of compliance, " says Claude Canizares, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's vice president for research.

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