Canada’s merchandise trade surplus widened to a four-year high in May, rising for the fourth consecutive month, as exports to the United States reached their highest level since February last year, data showed on Tuesday.

Trade Surplus Details

Canada clocked a trade surplus of C$4.24 billion in May, up 0.9% from a revised C$3.41 billion posted in the prior month, Statistics Canada said. This was the third consecutive month of trade surplus for Canada and was led by a 1.5% jump in exports to the U.S., its largest trading partner.

Analysts polled by Reuters had estimated the trade surplus to be at C$2.85 billion. As President Donald Trump’s tariffs slammed some critical sectors in Canada, businesses have been trying to diversify away from the U.S., which usually bought almost three quarters of Canada’s total exports.

Exports to the U.S. rose 1.5% to C$53.72 billion, a fourth consecutive monthly increase, taking the share of exports to south of the border to almost 70% in May. Imports from the U.S. fell by 1.4%.

Impact on Trade Deficit

As a result, Canada’s trade surplus with the United States widened to C$11.6 billion in May from $10.3 billion in April, posting its largest surplus since the record high observed in January 2025, the statistics agency said. This could be mainly due to higher price of energy exports, StatsCan said.

Exports to countries other than the U.S. continued to shrink, although at a lower rate in May than April, and imports from non-U.S. countries rose. This widened Canada’s trade deficit with countries other than the U.S. to C$7.4 billion in May.

Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.