Japan logged a trade surplus of nearly $4 billion in June, rebounding from a deficit the previous month, but its politically sensitive surplus with the United States slipped, government data showed Thursday, AFP reported. The world’s third-largest economy logged a surplus of 439.9 billion yen ($3.9 billion), down 35.9% from the same month a year earlier, according to data from the finance ministry. The result came in below market expectations of a 488 billion yen surplus. Japan’s surplus with the US fell 4.9% to 587.4 billion yen as growth in imports of oil and coal overwhelmed exports of vehicles and other manufactured goods. Overall exports in June rose 9.7% from a year earlier to 6.61 trillion yen thanks to growth in chip-manufacturing devices and steel products, marking the seventh consecutive monthly rise. Imports expanded 15.5% to 6.17 trillion yen, boosted by imports of liquefied natural gas and coal and electronic devices from Asian countries, logging the sixth straight monthly increase.
