TOKYO: Japan's politically sensitive trade surplus with the US edged up in April, government data showed Monday, after Tokyo warned it may take retaliatory measures against US tariffs. On Sunday, Washington and Beijing said they had agreed to avoid a potential trade war and back off from imposing tariffs on each other. Marking a departure from a decades-long, US-led drive for open and free trade, Trump has claimed that massive flows of imports to the United States threaten national security. The trade row has cast a shadow over the relationship between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Trump, who have forged otherwise close ties. Japan's overall trade surplus jumped 30.9% to 626.0 billion yen in April, higher than market expectations of a 440-billion yen surplus, the ministry said.

Source: Bangkok Post May 21, 2018 00:45 UTC