Japan logs trade deficit of 1.15 tril. yen in Jan., 1st in 3 months

TOKYO - Japan logged a trade deficit of 1.15 trillion yen ($7.5 billion) in January, its first red ink in three months, government data showed Wednesday, amid a slow recovery in U.S.-bound exports due to tariffs imposed on auto and other products.

The deficit, however, shrank 58.0 percent from a year earlier as overall exports rose 16.8 percent year-on-year to 9.19 trillion yen, up for the fifth straight month, on solid demand for semiconductors and other electronic parts in the rest of Asia, including China, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.