Canada: International Merchandise Trade Deficit Expands to $2.5B

Canada’s International Merchandise Trade Deficit widened to $2.5 billion in July from $1.6 billion in June, the data published by Statistics Canada revealed on Thursday. This reading came in largely in line with the market expectation.

“Imports increased 12.7% in July, while exports rose 11.1%. The largest contributor to this growth for both imports and exports was the motor vehicles and parts product category,” the publication read. “Compared with February 2020, the month before the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic impact was felt in Canada, imports (-4.1%) and exports (-6.0%) were down.”