The European Debt Crisis Causes Japan to Report Their First Trade Deficit

“Japan reported its first trade deficit with the European Union since the Finance Ministry began tracking data in 1979 as the debt crisis roiling Spain and Greece limits a rebound in Japanese exports.

An overall shortfall of 907.3 billion yen ($11.5 billion) for May, reported today in Tokyo, was bigger than all 24 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey of economists. Exports rose 10 percent from a year earlier, the most in 17 months, while imports exceeded estimates. The trade gap with the EU was 11.1 billion yen.”

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