Canada saw its first trade surplus in ten months in December as exports continued to expand faster than imports, led by higher energy product exports, higher crude oil prices, and partly by weaker local currency, data showed on Wednesday.
The December trade surplus was at C$708 million ($496 million), from a revised deficit of C$986 million the prior month, helped by a 4.9% growth in exports, Statistics Canada said.
Imports grew by 2.3% in December, a bit slower than the 2.8% gain seen in November, it said.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a surplus of C$750 million.
Gaping Deficit With the US
Canada’s trade surplus with the U.S. widened for the second month in a row, growing 5% in December to C$11.3 billion led primarily by higher exports of energy products and a higher price of crude oil.
Its imports from the U.S. fell 1.5% in December.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who paused a plan to implement 25% tariffs on almost all Canadian imports earlier this week, has often expressed frustration on the country’s gaping deficit with its neighbor north of the border.
Canada also followed suit by rolling back sweeping retaliatory tariffs.
Canada’s merchandise trade surplus with the U.S., its biggest trading partner, amounted to $102.3 billion for the year 2024, down from a surplus of $108.3 billion in 2023, the statistics agency said.
US-Canada Trade Deficit
The combined value of Canada’s imports and exports of goods traded with the U.S. surpassed the C$1 trillion mark for a third consecutive year, it said, adding that last year Canada exported 75.9% of its total exports to its neighbor, and bought 62.2% of its total imports from south of the border.
Exports to the U.S. accounts for roughly 17.8% of Canadian GDP and more than 2.4 million jobs in Canada.
Total exports in December, which posted an increase for the third consecutive month, were driven by energy products which increased by 9.5%, followed by metal and non-metallic mineral products which widened by 9.2%.
Barring the U.S., Canada’s trade deficit with the rest of the world expanded in December to C$10.6 billion from $9.2 billion in November.
(with inputs from Reuters)
