Amid energy shortages, a record first-half trade deficit for Japan
Itsuo Inouye/AP - Containers pack a container terminal at a pier in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan's Ministry of Finance reported a 2.9 trillion yen ($37.4 billion) trade deficit
for the first half ended June 30.
The Washington Post
TOKYO — Japan posted its biggest first-half trade deficit on record, according to government figures released Wednesday, highlighting the economic consequences as this nuclear-averse country imports fossil fuels to meet its energy needs.
The Ministry of Finance reported a 2.92 trillion yen (or $37.3 billion) trade deficit, which reflected not only Japan’s surging need for oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), but also weakened exports to slumping markets like Europe and China.
The world’s third-largest economy has averted economic crisis this year largely because of a spike in domestic demand, spurred by reconstruction of the earthquake- and tsunami-devastated northeast.
But long term, Japan faces some troubling challenges: Its famed exporters — automakers and tech giants — are pinched by a global economic slowdown. Meanwhile, the country’s sustained wariness of nuclear energy has led to record imports of fossil fuels, which arrive here on hulking tankers and help prevent the nightmare scenario of blackouts during the sweltering summer.
More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/amid-energy-shortages-a-record-first-half-trade-deficit-for-japan/2012/07/25/gJQA0cpK8W_story.html
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