Japan sank into a trade deficit last month as exports dropped, especially to other Asian nations

Japan suffered a trade deficit last month as exports sank for the first time in more than two years, dragged down by a slowdown overseas. Japan’s trade deficit totaled 78.7 billion yen ($539 million), the Finance Ministry said Thursday, the first trade deficit for the world’s third largest economy in two months. Exports shrank most markedly for the rest of Asia, including China, Singapore and Taiwan, declining 0.3% from the same month the previous year to 8.73 trillion yen ($60 billion).