TOKYO: A general view shows shipping containers at the international container pier at Tokyo port. Japan posted a 216 billion yen (US$1.75 billion) trade deficit in May, down about 76 percent from a 917.2 billion yen deficit a year earlier due to a drop in energy imports but still not enough to offset lackluster shipments overseas, official data showed yesterday.
The value of the country’s imports declined 8.7 percent in May as falling oil and gas prices reduced Japan’s energy bills, while exports rose a weaker-than-expected 2.4 percent. Exports to China expanded by just 1.1 percent while European Union-bound goods crept up 0.4 percent.
