Canada is seeing a huge jump in non-US exports
The tariffs imposed by Donald Trump on Canada have begun to impact exports to the United States. However, recent data suggest that the tariff strategies may not be unfolding as anticipated.
New data on monthly trade from Ottawa
On May 6th, Statistics Canada released an overview of international merchandise trade data from March 2025 and found that Canadian exports to the US had decreased.
Exports to the United States dropped
Exports to the United States dropped by 6.6% in March 2025, the second time they had decreased. In February 2025, Canadian exports to the United States declined by 5.4%.
Total exports only dropped slightly
However, despite the decline of exports to Canada’s largest and most important trading partner for two straight months, the country's total exports only decreased by 0.2% in March 2025.
Canada found other trade partners
Statistics Canada noted in its report that total exports remained relatively high because the drop in exports to the United States was offset by an increase in exports elsewhere.
A huge rise in exports elsewhere
Canada increased its exports to countries other than the United States by 24.8%, which suggests that Canadian businesses have easily found other trading partners to purchase their goods.
The second-largest jump ever recorded
Statistics Canada pointed out that the jump in exports to other countries in March 2025 was the second-largest percentage increase that the government agency has recorded.
Imports from the US also decreased
March 2025 also saw Canadian imports from the United States drop by 2.9%. This may be a sign that Canada’s recent counter-tariffs on its closest trading partner are working.
The results of Trump’s trade war
The outcome of Trump's first two months of tariffs saw Canada’s trade deficit drop from $1 billion in Canadian dollars in February 2025 to just $506 million in March 2025.
A drop in Canada’s trade surplus
Canada’s trade surplus with the United States also dropped from 8.4 billion Canadian dollars in March. So it appears Trump is getting what he said he wanted—less trade between Canada and the United States.
What will happen next?
Whether or not Canada will be able to continue to broaden its new trading partners and offset the losses imposed by Trump’s tariffs isn’t clear, but things are going well so far based on the official data.
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