Japan’s Trade Surplus With U.S. Shrinks : Record Imports Narrow Gap by 14.4% in Month

Japan’s unadjusted trade surplus with the United States fell 14.4% in February as imports from the United States reached record levels, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.

The politically sensitive surplus was squeezed by the strong Japanese yen, which makes it cheap for the Japanese to buy foreign-made goods and inhibits sales of Japanese goods abroad.

The Japanese-U.S. surplus fell to $3.40 billion from $3.97 billion in February, 1987, unadjusted for seasonal fluctuations. Exports to the United States rose 9.7% to $6.81 billion, while imports from the United States soared by 51.9% to $3.41 billion.

The imports from the United States broke the previous one-month record of $3.12 billion, set in June, 1986.

Japan’s overall trade surplus declined 26.5% in February as imports of foreign goods set another record, the ministry said.

The overall surplus fell to $5.24 billion from $7.13 billion in February, 1987, the 10th consecutive month of year-to-year declines.

The February surplus was up from $3.07 billion in January, but the ministry said the scope of trade usually dwindles in January because of Japan’s long New Year holidays.

Aircraft Purchases Jump

Imports shot up 48% from a year ago to a record $15 billion in February, while exports rose 17.2% to $20.2 billion. The previous high for imports was $14.8 billion in December, 1987.

Imports of U.S. aircraft in the month nearly tripled to $478 million.

The ministry said the aircraft purchases were a special factor in February, but over the last several months, export growth has been held back and imports have been encouraged by the yen’s sharp rise against the U.S. dollar. The dollar was trading at 128 yen in February, compared to 152 yen a year earlier.