JAPAN: Japan’s export machine shrugged off the...

JAPAN: Japan’s export machine shrugged off the effects of a weak U.S. economy in May, driving Tokyo’s trade surplus up 35%, the fifth consecutive monthly increase. The surplus climbed to an unadjusted $4.18 billion last month from a revised $3.09 billion a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance said last week. Economists said the data provided solid evidence that Japan’s trade surplus was on a strong widening trend and that increased trade friction would be the likely result. “The surplus has grown to the point where it is no longer an issue just for economists; it has become one for statesmen,” said Paul Summerville, economist at the Tokyo branch of Jardine Fleming Securities Ltd. A Ministry of Finance official attempted to put a good face on the data, saying that although the surplus is growing, long-term forces may narrow the gap. The surplus with the United States, Tokyo’s most outspoken trade critic, declined 20% to $1.95 billion, the report said.