The nation's surplus in merchandise trade in the April-September period fell 13.6 percent from a year earlier to 6.39 trillion yen, the first decrease in five fiscal half-year periods, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
Both exports and imports dropped in the period, but the pace of decline in exports exceeded that of imports, according to preliminary figures on a customs-cleared basis.
But the politically sensitive trade surplus with the United States soared 10.2 percent, marking the sixth consecutive half-year period of increase.