Canada's April Trade Deficit Widens To Historic High

Canada's trade deficit in April widened to an all-time high of a whopping C$7.1 billion ($5.2 billion), data showed, as tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump dampened U.S. demand for Canadian goods, Promit Mukherjee reported for Reuters.

The trade deficit was only expected to widen by C$1.5 billion in April.

Canada's exports to the rest of the world rose, but could not compensate for the sharp drop in exports to the U.S., according to data from Statistics Canada. Exports to the U.S. shrank by 15.7%, marking the third consecutive monthly decline.

StatsCan added that exports south of the border have fallen by more than 26% since the peak seen in January.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the trade deficit to widen to just C$1.5 billion in April. Statistics Canada also made a major revision to the March trade deficit, increasing it to C$2.3 billion from the originally reported C$506 million.

Canada shipped 76% of its total exports to the U.S. last year, and trade between the two countries exceeded C$1 trillion for the third consecutive year in 2024. But a barrage of tariffs from Trump—paired with Canada’s C$90 billion worth of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports—is now starting to disrupt cross-border trade.