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JAPAN'S TRADE SUPRLUS SHRINKS

TOKYO - Japan's trade surplus shrank 30.7% in June from the same month a year earlier to $7.1 billion, reports the Finance Ministry.
  
The surplus was much smaller than expected. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones estimated on average that the surplus would total $8.4 billion, down 13.5% from the previous year.
While Japan's trade surplus has been fluctuating this year, analysts say swings in the data, especially in the first quarter, were likely due to higher crude oil prices caused by the war in Iraq and slowing exports.

But worries are growing that a global slowdown may depress exports, the nation's main engine for growth, and cloud the outlook for the economy. Exports in June were flat from a year earlier, while imports grew 11.6%.
 
Japan's exports to the US have been steadily declining with sales to Asia also seeing a downturn during the month.
 
Japan's overall trade surplus with the US fell by 21.7% to $4.1 billion, marking the sixth straight month of decline.
 
The country's surplus with Asia fell for the first time in 16 months, contracting 20.5% in June  to $3.8 billion, the Ministry said.

SECRETARY OF STATE OUTLINES LOGGING INITIATIVE

WASHINGTON, DC - US Secretary of State Colin Powell has unveiled a major initiative aimed at helping the world's developing countries stop illegal logging and the sale and export of illegally harvested timber.

The strategy "emphasizes good governance, community-based actions, integrated monitoring systems and good business practices, and focuses on the Congo Basin, the Amazon Basin, Central America and South and Southeast Asia," Powell's office said.
 
SINGAPORE, CANADA NEARER TO FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

SINGAPORE - Canada and Singapore recently completed the fifth round of negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement and expect to finalize the deal this year, according to sources in both countries.
 
The most recent talks were held July 21 to 25 in Singapore.

The two sides reportedly hammered out various details of the proposed agreement, including trade in goods and services, financial services and investment.

The next round of negotiations is scheduled later this year in Ottawa.
  
Singapore has made trade agreements a cornerstone of its economic policy and has already signed deals with Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and, most recently, the US.

The agreement is the US' first free-trade agreement with an Asian country.

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