TOKYO — Japan recorded a trade deficit in its March-April fiscal year but racked up a surplus with the U.S., the Finance Ministry reported Thursday.
Japan's global trade deficit totaled 5.2 trillion yen ($37 billion) for the fiscal year through March, for the fourth straight year of deficits, according to the provisional statistics.
The surplus with the U.S. ballooned to 9 trillion yen ($63 billion).
Exports to the U.S. are a contentious issue for U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese negotiators are in Washington to argue their case against higher U.S. tariffs. Japan is a key longtime U.S. ally and major investor in the U.S., employing hundreds of thousands of Americans.
Trump said on April 2 that he planned to impose a 24% tariff on imports from Japan as part of an announcement of higher tariffs on dozens of countries. After financial markets panicked, he put a partial 90-day hold on the import taxes, while increasing his already steep tariffs on Chinese goods to as much as 145%.
Japan still faces a 10% baseline tariff and a 25% tax on imported cars, auto parts, steel and aluminum exports. Most of those duties took effect recently, but they pose a grave challenge for embattled Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
Some analysts say Tokyo could at some point announce surprise concessions, like importing more American rice. Rice holds a special place in the Japanese psyche as the nation's staple and has long been a protected sector in Japan. But recently a rice shortage has been pushing up prices.
Japan's annual exports climbed 5.9% from a year earlier, helped by strong shipments of goods like computer chips and vehicles. Imports rose 4.7%. But a weaker Japanese yen made imports more costly.
