TMI BlogJapan reports USD 63 billion trade surplus with US as it talks with Trump on tariffsX X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Japan reports USD 63 billion trade surplus with US as it talks with Trump on tariffs X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he fourth straight year of deficits, according to the provisional statistics. The surplus with the US ballooned to 9 trillion yen (USD 63 billion). Exports to the US are a contentious issue for US President Donald Trump and Japanese negotiators are in Washington to argue their case against higher US tariffs. Japan is a key longtime US ally and major investor in the US, employing hundreds of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ousands of Americans. Trump said on April 2 that he planned to impose a 24 per cent tariff on imports from Japan as part of an announcement of higher tariffs on dozens of countries. After financial markets panicked, he put a partial 90-day hold on the import taxes, while increasing his already steep tariffs on Chinese goods to as much as 145 per cent. Japan still faces a 10 per cent baseline t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ariff and a 25 per cent tax on imported cars, auto parts, steel and aluminum exports. Most of those duties took effect recently, but they pose a grave challenge for embattled Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Some analysts say Tokyo could at some point announce surprise concessions, like importing more American rice. Rice holds a special place in the Japanese psyche as the nation's staple and has l ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ong been a protected sector in Japan. But recently a rice shortage has been pushing up prices. Japan's annual exports climbed 5.9 per cent from a year earlier, helped by strong shipments of goods like computer chips and vehicles. Imports rose 4.7 per cent. But a weaker Japanese yen made imports more costly. A recent influx of foreign tourists to Japan has pushed exports higher, since such spen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ding counts as exports. For the month of March, Japan recorded a trade surplus of 544 billion yen (USD 4 billion). Exports climbed nearly 4 per cent from a year earlier, for the sixth straight month of gains, although the surge was slower than in February. Exports to the US rose 3 per cent, while shipments to the rest of Asia grew 5.5 per cent. Exports to China fell, while shipments to Hong Ko ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ng, Taiwan and South Korea surged.
“This is likely due to the rerouting of exports within Asia to avoid tariff conflicts with the US,” Min Joo Kang, a senior economist at ING, said in a report. (AP) GRS GRS X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|