TRADE

Japan’s Trade Surplus With U.S. Tumbles: The surplus, a focus of political contention, posted its biggest decline in 16 years in January, shrinking 51.2% from a year earlier. Weak exports and a surge in imports of American automobiles, semiconductors and personal computers help pushed Japan’s trade surplus down to $1.55 billion from $3.19 billion, the Finance Ministry said today. That is the eighth straight decline. The country’s overall trade surplus shrank in January to $467 million from a revised $2.75 billion a year earlier, the ministry reported. That is the seventh consecutive monthly drop. A Reuters survey of economists had produced an average prediction of a $1-billion surplus. Exports are usually weak in January because of long New Year holiday in Japan.