Canadian trade balance data for April 2021:
- Prior was -$1.14B
- Imports -4.7% vs +5.5% prior
- Exports +1.0% vs +0.3% prior
- Trade surplus with US $6.4B vs $4.3B prior
- Trade deficit with other countries $5.8B vs $5.4B prior
- Full report
The commodity rally has improved Canada's terms of trade with Q1 showing the first surplus since 2016.
There was a significant decrease in auto trade in the month, in large part due to production slowdowns related to chip shortages.
Canadian consumer goods exports jumped 14.4% in the month and Statistics Canada offered this helpful hint on why:
To reduce the risk for the endangered North American right whales, the snow crab season opened almost one month earlier this year, leading to a significant increase in exports of crab in April.
