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Associated Press

Japan's Trade Surplus Shrinks in March

Wednesday April 20, 11:37 pm ET

Japan's Trade Surplus Shrinks 0.2 Percent in March From Same Month a Year Ago

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's trade surplus shrank 0.2 percent in March from the same month a year ago for a third straight month of declines, the government said Thursday.

The merchandise trade surplus -- the measure of all goods exported minus those imported -- fell to 1.12 trillion yen (US$ 10.5 billion; euro8.1 billion), the Finance Ministry said.

The surplus was smaller than forecast by economists surveyed by Dow Jones and Nikkei News, who had on average predicted it would rise 7.9 percent during March.

Though the surplus with the United States jumped 17.5 percent, the surplus with the rest of Asia declined 2.4 percent.

For the full fiscal year ended March 31, the surplus rose 1.3 percent to 11.35 trillion (US$107 billion, euro81.6 billion) for a third consecutive term.

The fiscal 2004 data underscored Japan's galloping trade with China.

Japan's trade with China and Hong Kong combined reached 22.71 trillion yen (US$214 billion; euro163 billion) in the year ended March 31 -- up 15.1 percent from the year before. With the United States, total trade amounted to 20.6 trillion yen (US$194 billion; euro148 billion).

The figures reflect a 12.9 percent rise in exports to China and a 17.8 percent increase in imports from China.

Trade data for the calendar year 2004 already showed China replaced the United States as Japan's biggest trading partner, while Thursday's figures confirmed that the same was true for the fiscal year.

The recent diplomatic spat over Japanese history textbooks and violent anti-Japan protests in Beijing and other Chinese cities have cast a shadow over the expanding economic ties between the neighbors, however. The dispute helped trigger a sharp decline by the Tokyo stock market earlier this week.

Overall, Japan's global exports and imports hit record highs during fiscal 2004.