Japan Trade

Japan's current account surplus more than doubled in May, driven by global demand for the country's exports and a drop in consumer spending at home. The surplus rose 154.9% to $8.02 billion from the same month last year, the Ministry of Finance said. The surplus was within the 168.5% increase economists had forecast for the current account, which is a nation's broadest measure of trade in goods and services.

Japan's trade surplus skyrocketed in May as auto makers and other manufacturers cranked up exports to their highest level in 15 years to offset sagging demand at home. The surplus increased 222.2% in May from a year earlier to $6.4 billion, the Finance Ministry said. The politically sensitive surplus with the U.S. rose 93%, or $2.8 billion, less than April's 174% gain but the eighth monthly rise.

Japan's contentious trade surplus showed a dramatic rise for the second month in a row in May, giving Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto some unwelcome news to take to this weekend's summit of G7 nations. Japan's global trade surplus, often the source of bitter rows with the United States, jumped more than 200% in May from a year earlier to $6.53 billion, the Finance Ministry said today.

Alarming conservationists, Japan is seeking to have three types of rare wildlife struck from the list of endangered species, opening the way for a resumption of limited international trade in ivory, whale meat and tortoise shell.

Etsuko Kawada's anguished plea cut through the news conference platitudes like a knife. "Stop reading from that paper and make an apology from your heart!" she demanded. The fiercely determined middle-aged mother was speaking to several executives of Green Cross Corp., a prominent pharmaceutical firm that had knowingly sold blood products contaminated with the virus that causes AIDS. The company had summoned journalists to announce a settlement with hundreds of victims.

Japan's current-account surplus rose in February for the second consecutive month, the government said Monday, contributing to mounting U.S. concern over trade imbalances. Tokyo's surplus in its current account, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, rose 15.4% to $6.92 billion in February from a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance said. The surplus was slightly above economists' average forecast of $6.40 billion and followed a rise in January, the first in 17 months.

The Clinton administration is concerned that weaker-than-expected economic growth in Japan could contribute to a reversal of the progress Japan has made in reducing its huge trade surpluses, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin said Tuesday. Last year, America's trade deficit with Japan shrank to $47.7 billion, the lowest since 1991. But economists are forecasting the gap could begin widening again this year because of the strength of the dollar and a sluggish Japanese economy.

Firing a warning shot across its bow, House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Tuesday cautioned Japan against exporting its way to economic recovery and said the United States still wants action on opening Japanese markets. "This is the most elegantly protectionist society in the world," the Georgia Republican told the Japan National Press Club during the Tokyo leg of his Asian tour.