Japan's trade surplus fell 19.3 percent in July from a year earlier to 1 trillion yen as the increase in imports outpaced that of exports, maintaining the seesaw pattern that has prevailed over the past several months, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
The expansion in imported items, including crude oil and personal computers, overwhelmed rises in exports of information technology-related products, according to the preliminary report on merchandise trade.
The politically sensitive trade surplus with the United States also dropped, by 13.8 percent, with exports shrinking for the first time in six months.