US trade deficit with Japan shrinks 2.6% in Feb.

April 6, 2018

Washington- The United States' deficit in goods trade with Japan in February shrank 2.6 percent from the previous month to $5.5 billion, the Department of Commerce said Thursday.

The amount was the third largest by country after China and Mexico. In January, Japan held the second position.

Of the total deficit with Japan, the closely followed US deficit in automobile trade slumped 15.1 percent to $3,965 million.

Later this month, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to visit the United States for talks with US President Donald Trump, who may ratchet up pressure on Tokyo over his country's deficit.

The Trump administration last month imposed new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to cut trade deficits, especially with China.

In February, the United States saw its goods trade deficit with China decrease 18.6 percent to 29.3 billion dollars, still by far the largest amount by country.

In goods and services trade, the United States' overall deficit expanded 1.6 percent to 57,591 million dollars, hitting the highest level since October 2008. Jiji Press