According to statistics of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, in the first three quarters of 1991, the ROC trade deficit with Japan reached US $ 6.94 billion dollars, surpassing by 1.2 billion the surplus of US $ 5.74 billion the country has with the United States. This deficit is an embarrassing nightmare for the ROC, a nation that is export-oriented and can only rest peacefully when seeing a surplus.
根據經濟部的統計，民國八十年前三季我國對日的貿易逆差高達六十九億四千萬美元，遠比同期我國對美國貿易順差五十七億四千萬美元要高出近十二億，這個赤字對一向以出口為導向，看到順差才安心的台灣而言，實在是個難堪的夢魘。