#Japan: #Japaneseexport growth accelerates in October

Exports to Asia, which accounts for more than half of shipments, rose 10.5 per cent

Smoke billowing from a plant in Tokyo bay. The 9.6 per cent annual rise in exports in October was more than double the 4.5 per cent gain expected by economists

Japanese exports grew in October at the fastest pace in eight months in an encouraging sign that global demand could help the country recover from an unexpected recession and support the central bank’s optimistic economic outlook... (Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

#US: Defying Expectations, #Japan’s Economy Falls

The Shiodome business district in Tokyo. Japan’s gross domestic product fell by an annualized pace of 1.6 percent last quarter, threatening a planned tax increase. Credit Thomas Peter/Reuters

TOKYO — Japan’s economy unexpectedly fell into recession in the third quarter, a painful slump that called into question efforts by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to pull the country out of nearly two decades of deflation.

The second consecutive quarterly decline in gross domestic product could upend Japan’s political landscape. Mr. Abe is considering dissolving Parliament and calling fresh elections, people close to him say, and Monday’s economic report is seen as critical to his decision, which is widely expected to come this week... (Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

#USA: Wider #UStradedeficit, #weakexports point to #slowergrowth

The Commerce Department says trade gap increased 7.6% to $43.03bn in September

Cargo containers are ready for transportation at the Port of Los Angeles

The US trade deficit unexpectedly widened in September as exports hit a five-month low, suggesting slowing global demand could undercut economic growth in the final three months of the year... (Read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

The United States, Japan, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Peterson Institute for International Economics. Jeffrey J. Schott — June 25, 2014
(Click here to original article)
Over the past two decades, the United States and Japan built an extensive network of free trade agreements (FTAs) with countries in the Asia-Pacific region but did not move forward with bilateral talks. Japan’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) marks the first such venture.