1.   Among spirits, tequila is charging ahead at a torrid pace in import growth, variety, and consumption in the United States.

2.   An approaching holiday season, combined with the growing availability of consumer credit, sped up the pace of import growth, he said.

3.   Analysts said the import growth slowed in the third quarter as corporations refrained from importing capital goods for facility investment, expecting an economic downturn.

4.   And import growth, which unexpectedly declined in June, should pick up as consumer spending increases.

5.   As demand falls, import growth may also follow suit.

6.   As import growth slows, Philippine companies need to sell fewer pesos to generate dollars to pay for foreign products.

7.   At the same time, weak consumer spending in Japan will suppress import growth through next year, economists said.

8.   But strong import growth will eventually lead to a smaller surplus, they say.

9.   But the pace of import growth is likely to slow, Lipsky of Salomon Brothers said.

10.   Economists expect consumer spending and import growth to start to improve this fall, though, tempering the expansion of the surplus.