Risk Awareness Rises, but 30% Still Lack Systems
PwC United Accounting Firm Japan branch (PwC Japan Group) held a seminar on November 11 to release the results of the "2026 Corporate Geopolitical Risk Response Survey (Global Edition)." The survey, for the first time, conducted an international comparison of 2,100 managers across 9 countries and regions. Results show that as many as 77% of Japanese companies believe geopolitical risk levels have increased over the past five years, with 35% saying they have "increased significantly." The risks Japanese companies worry about most include "full implementation of Trump tariffs" (42%), "protectionist policies" (29%), and "U.S.-China conflict" (28%). However, 31% of Japanese companies have still not established systems for information gathering or response plans.
Dedicated Teams Far Below US, Germany and Korea Levels
In setting up dedicated teams, the gap for Japanese companies is even more pronounced. In the automotive industry, only 21% of Japanese companies have dedicated teams, far below 47% in the United States, 58% in Germany, and 53% in South Korea. A similar situation exists in the semiconductor industry, where the proportion is 25% for Japanese companies, compared with 52% and 53% for the United States and South Korea, respectively. PwC Japan Manager Kazuhito Sakata noted that European, American and South Korean companies are actively establishing dedicated organizations, while Japanese companies generally tend to use existing teams to handle multiple responsibilities concurrently.
Intelligence Gathering Relies on Periodic Reports
In information collection and use, Japanese companies also value intelligence gathering, but operate differently from overseas peers. In major industries in the United States, Europe, Taiwan and South Korea, 40% to 50% consolidate and store risk information in real time through IT platforms. By contrast, Japanese companies mainly rely on periodic reports or ad-hoc contact for major events. In addition, countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom explicitly include information collection and reporting in the job descriptions (JD) and key performance indicators (KPI) of overseas offices, emphasizing obtaining first-hand intelligence before policy and regulatory changes become news. However, 26% of Japanese semiconductor companies, 22% of automotive companies, and 32% of pharmaceutical companies said they "do not specifically require overseas offices to play an intelligence role."
Passive Policy Channels, Left Waiting for Announcements
The survey also found that over 40% of overseas companies have "channels" to influence the policy-making process, while Japanese companies appear more passive in actively assigning roles to overseas offices and participating in policy-making. As many as 38% of Japanese semiconductor companies, 23% of automotive companies, and 26% of pharmaceutical companies admitted they have "almost no channels and can only wait after information is announced." Overall, Japanese companies明显 lag behind major overseas countries in economic security intelligence management and risk response.