Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world totalled $2.8 billion in May, widening from a $1.9 billion deficit in April. Imports rose 1.7%, mainly on higher imports of aircraft, while exports edged down 0.1%.
Higher imports driven by aircraft
Imports rose 1.7% in May to $51.1 billion, with 8 of 11 product sections increasing. Imports of aircraft and other transportation equipment as well as energy products contributed the most to the increase in May. Year over year, total imports were up 3.5%.
Imports of aircraft and other transportation equipment and parts rose 17.7% to $2.4 billion in May, the fifth consecutive monthly increase for this product section. Aircraft drove the advance, more than tripling to $937 million on the import of several airliners from the United States. The value of aircraft imports from January to May was a record high for this period. Higher aircraft imports were partially offset by sharply lower imports of ships, locomotives, railway rolling stock and rapid transit equipment (-76.6%) in May.
Imports of refined petroleum energy products, up 13.9% to $1.6 billion, also contributed to the overall increase in May, mainly due to higher imports of motor gasoline. A number of Canadian refineries were temporarily shut down in May, resulting in higher imports to meet domestic demand for refined petroleum products. For the refined petroleum energy products group, volumes rose 14.7% while prices fell 0.8%.
This has been excerpted from a 6 July 2018 release by Statistics Canada.