Following two months of strong increases, growth in Canadian merchandise imports and exports slowed in April, with imports rising 1.9% and exports increasing 0.6%. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade surplus with the world narrowed from $2.3 billion in March to $1.5 billion in April. Despite the rise in values, in real (or volume) terms, imports were down 0.4% in April, while exports fell 2.1%. The upward movements in nominal terms were therefore the result of higher prices.
Imports of consumer goods (+5.5%) contributed the most to the increase in April. Although gains were observed in most product subcategories, clothing, footwear and accessories (+24.2%) recorded the largest increase.
Imports of metal and non-metallic mineral products rose 10.5% in April to a record high of $5.8 billion. Imports of unwrought gold, silver and platinum group metals (+29.8%) contributed the most to the increase, mainly because of higher imports of silver from South Korea. Imports of basic and semi-finished iron and steel products (+9.2%) were also up in April. The decline in imports of basic and industrial chemical, plastic and rubber products (-5.4%) partly offset the increase in total imports in April. Imports of basic chemicals (-26.0%), which rose sharply in March, posted the largest decline in April, returning to levels similar to February. The increase in March was largely driven by an increase in imports of active pharmaceutical ingredients from Ireland.
Exports of consumer goods (+5.0%) rose the most in April, driven by higher exports of prepared and packaged seafood products (+52.4%). Exports of motor vehicles and parts rose 3.9% to $7.1 billion in April, the highest level since October 2020. After rising 8.5% in March, exports of passenger cars and light trucks were again the primary source of the growth in April (+5.3%). After reaching unprecedented highs in the previous three months, exports of energy products were down 0.9% in April. Exports of crude oil fell 14.3%, mainly due to lower volumes.
Imports from the United States rose 4.4% in April, partly on higher imports of refined petroleum products. Exports to the United States were up 2.1%, a fourth consecutive monthly increase. As a result, Canada's trade surplus with the United States narrowed from a record high of $12.2 billion in March to $11.6 billion in April. Imports from countries other than the United States decreased 1.9% in April, due to a sharp drop in imports from China (-15.3%). This follows consecutive large increases in February and March. The drop in April coincided with the lockdown of Shanghai due to recent outbreaks of COVID-19 in that part of the country. Despite the monthly decline, imports from China were up 36.4% compared with January.
Exports to countries other than the United States fell 4.7% in April. Lower exports to the United Kingdom (gold), South Korea (copper ores), France (canola and aircraft) and Spain (pharmaceutical products) contributed the most to this decline. Canada's merchandise trade deficit with countries other than the United States widened slightly in April to $10.1 billion from $9.9 billion in March.
This is an excerpt from the Statistics Canada article: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220607/dq220607a-eng.htm