Japan car, machinery exports push surplus to $3.9B in June

TOKYO – Japan’s exports rose nearly 10 per cent in June from a year earlier, while imports jumped 15.5 per cent, biting into its trade surplus.

A recovery in exports to China and the rest of Asia is helping sustain growth of the world’s third-largest economy. The customs figures reported Thursday showed exports to China surged 20 per cent from a year earlier, to 1.25 trillion yen ($11 billion).

Exports to the U.S., Japan’s biggest single overseas market, climbed 7 per cent, to 1.3 trillion yen ($11 billion), while imports from the U.S. climbed 19 per cent, to 716.9 billion yen ($6.4 billion).

Overall, exports of vehicles and machinery showed the strongest increases, while oil and gas imports jumped 31 per cent.

The total trade surplus of 439.9 billion yen ($3.9 billion) compared with a 686.5 billion yen surplus in June 2016, down more than a third.