ZCZC
BCN-08
JAPAN-US-ECONOMY-TRAD
US imports push Japan into trade deficit in May
TOKYO, June 18, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Imports of US aircraft helped push Japan
to a trade deficit in May, official data showed Monday, but experts said it
was a temporary effect not linked to ongoing trade tensions.
Japan’s imports rose 14.0 percent in May from a year earlier, according to
finance ministry data.
Exports also enjoyed an 8.0 percent rise but the overall effect was a net
deficit of 578.3 billion yen ($5 billion).
The deficit was nearly three times the size of the figure last year and
came after two consecutive months of surplus.
“The deficit came from a surge in imports from the United States,” said
Takeshi Minami, chief economist at the Norinchukin Research Institute, noting
a quadrupling of Japan’s purchases of US aircraft.
He also noted that crude oil prices rose strongly, pushing Japan’s import
bills higher.
“It’s a temporary rise and is not linked to trade policies,” he said,
ruling out the possibility that Japan was boosting purchases of US products
as Washington adopts an increasingly protectionist trade policy.
“Exports will keep growing for a while but we should be cautious against
protectionist moves, a possible slowdown in the robust US economy, and how
emerging markets are faring in light of hikes in US interest rates,” Minami
told AFP.
Overall Japanese imports from the US rose nearly 20 percent year-on-year,
meaning its politically sensitive trade surplus with Washington fell 17.3
percent.
Meanwhile, Japan’s deficit with its biggest trading partner China shrank
10.4 percent with exports growing 13.9 percent.
Worries about a trade war are growing as Washington and Beijing exchange
tit-for-tat tariff announcements.
Marking a departure from a decades-long, US-led drive for open and free
trade, President Donald Trump has claimed that massive flows of imports to
the United States threaten national security.
BSS/AFP/HR/0930