U.S. $1 trillion trade deficit with China $390 billion, Japan investment gains 35 trillion yen

The U.S. recorded a record trade deficit of $1 trillion last year, accounting for more than half of the $390 billion deficit with China and the $130 billion deficit with Mexico.
Japan's trade deficit last year was 1,6701 trillion yen, but it maintained a booming current account surplus of 11.14 trillion yen, with profits of more than 35 trillion yen, a record high from overseas dividends.
Trade statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce show that overall trade with China surpassed previous records last year, marking the second-highest total on record for the U.S. trade deficit with China, up 8.3 percent year over year to $382.9 billion.
The biggest beneficiary of the Biden administration's policy of 'bringing more manufacturing back to the United States and its allies' is Mexico, a neighboring country. It increased by 20.7% to $130 billion.
According to the balance of payments statistics on the 8th, Japan's Ministry of Finance showed a surplus in primary profit, including interest on overseas investments and dividends received from overseas subsidiaries, up 32.8% last year to a record high of 35,308.7 billion yen.
Japan's trade deficit increased by 19.9% to 98.6903 trillion yen due to export growth led by automobiles, and imports increased by 42% to 114.4711 trillion yen due to soaring crude oil and coal prices.
On the other hand, Japan's current account surplus continued to be in surplus despite a current account surplus of 11,443.2 billion yen, a 47% decrease from the previous year, as income from transactions and investments in overseas goods and services, the main cause of the current account surplus, reached the highest level.
"The current account surplus fell to 10,147.8 billion yen, the largest drop since comparable figures were published in 1985, thanks to a significant increase in imports from a historical decline in the value of the yen and a surge in resource prices," Yomiuri said. The 1.67 trillion yen trade deficit minus imports from exports is the largest deficit since 1996.”
The $1 trillion US trade deficit came from exports of goods and services, up 17.7% to $3 trillion, and imports of goods and services to $4 trillion, up 16.3%.
Last year, the trade deficit increased further due to the strong US dollar, and US exports in December decreased slightly from the previous month to US$ 250.2 billion, with imports of 317.6 billion, as the global economy slowed and the US exported industrial materials and consumer goods abroad decreased. In terms of dollars, the trade deficit is likely to grow this year as well.
As for the biggest trade deficit, the New York Times said, “The United States has taken a small portion of its imports from China in recent years, in part because of Trump-era tariffs and other trade restrictions. One beneficiary of these changes is Mexico, It is now a destination for more global factories that hope to serve the US.”
Regarding the widening US trade deficit, the Global Supply Chain Restructuring Policy said, “The US trade deficit with Mexico, Canada, India, South Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan all increased strongly last year as manufacturers sought new sources of foreign goods.” said.
The NYT said, “Global supply chains appear to be reshaping somewhat as the government puts up more trade barriers with China and companies try to diversify where they get their materials and goods, and the Biden administration is pushing for materials like solar panels and electric vehicle batteries. “We identified China’s dependence on China as a security risk and introduced incentives and penalties to persuade businesses to make changes to their supply chains that have proven vulnerable to pandemic disruptions,” he said. It proved that he was unwilling or unable to sever his relationship with him.”

The Bank of Korea's current account balance last year was a surplus of $29.83 billion, but it is a 65% drop from $85.23 billion in 2021. The product balance surplus is a whopping 80.1% drop of $60.67 billion from $75.73 billion in 2021 to $15.06 billion last year.

Last year, Korea's exports increased by 6.3% to 690.46 billion dollars, but imports increased by 17.4% to 675.4 billion dollars, showing a trade deficit of 1 billion dollars in November and a trade deficit of 480 million dollars in December. It increased from a deficit of 5.29 billion dollars last year to 5.53 billion dollars last year, showing the possibility of a current account deficit.

South Korea's trade deficit tightened as exports in January decreased by 16.6% from $55.46 billion in January of last year to $46.27 billion, and imports decreased by 2.6% year-on-year to $58.95 billion, reaching $12.69 billion. Recorded.

<Yoon Seok-yeol’s “US-centered response to China” is “frustrated” due to the expansion of the trade deficit, August 24, 2022>