Japan's trade deficit drops by almost 50 pct in April, exports face headwinds from shaky U.S. economy

TOKYO, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Japan's trade deficit dropped by almost 50 percent to a one-year low of 432.4 billion yen (3.14 billion U.S. dollars) in April, owing in part to imports retreating for the first time in over two years on lower prices for crude oil, the government said in a report on Thursday.

According to the Finance Ministry, imports declined for the first time in 27 months, dropping 2.3 percent to 8.72 trillion yen (63.41 billion dollars), as costs for resource-scarce Japan remained high with a weak yen further punctuating inflated prices, especially for crude oil and liquefied natural gas.

Exports in the recording period rose 2.6 percent to 8.29 trillion yen (60.30 billion dollars), marking a record for the month of April, despite mounting fears over the health of the U.S. and European economies.

Amid ferociously high interest rates as part of the U.S. Federal Reserve's response to soaring inflation that could possibly tip the world's largest economy into a recession, the world's largest economy is heading towards a possible disastrous and unprecedented default on its 31.4 trillion U.S. dollar debt, as soon as June 1, if negotiations over the debt ceiling continue to make no headway, economists here pointed out, with regards to the downside risks facing Japan's exports.

Japan's has held a trade deficit now for the 21st successive month, the ministry said, booking a surplus with the United States in the recording period, as exports climbed 10.5 percent to 1.66 trillion yen (12.07 billion dollars) while imports were up 1.0 percent to 862.09 billion yen (6.27 billion dollars).

With China, Japan booked a trade deficit of 460.88 billion yen (3.35 billion dollars), with imports jumping 14.8 percent to 1.91 trillion yen (13.89 billion dollars), while exports retreated 2.9 percent to 1.45 trillion yen (10.54 billion dollars) in the recording period, the data showed.

With the rest of Asia, including China, Japan's trade surplus dropped more than 50 percent to 297.87 billion yen (2.16 billion dollars), the ministry said.

Japan booked a deficit with the European Union, meanwhile, tumbling 62.2 percent from a year earlier to 72.40 billion yen (526.58 million dollars), said the Finance Ministry.