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Japan trade surplus with US shrinks for second month

Japan's surplus with the US shrank for the second month in a row

Japan's sensitive trade surplus with the United States shrank sharply for the second consecutive month, according to official data published Wednesday, as Tokyo nervously eyes Washington's trade war with China. The surplus came in at 455.8 billion yen ($4.05 billion) in August, as the rise in US aerospace, natural gas and coal imports outpaced Tokyo's exports of pharmaceutical and construction products. US President Donald Trump has reportedly cited Japan as his next target after China as he seeks to reduce Washington's trade deficit. The US-China trade war has shown no sign of cooling, with Trump moving forward with tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports, sparking immediate retaliation from Beijing. Later Wednesday, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda voiced strong concern over the trade war, saying bilateral trade conflicts would affect not only the countries involved but also the entire global economy. "So far no concrete impact on trade has been seen, but it is necessary to closely watch the impact on the global economy as well as the Japanese economy," Kuroda told reporters. Japan logged an overall global trade deficit of 444.6 billion yen, as the rising value of energy imports continued to outpace export growth. Exports rose 6.6 percent led by machines to build semiconductors, automobiles and ships. But the total value of foreign imports climbed 15.4 percent, largely due to rising cost of energy such as crude oil, LNG and coal. Japan's deficit with its biggest trading partner China shrank 25.1 percent.