Ketchup on the wall alert: Trade surplus grows in July
No doubt White House stewards will be cleaning ketchup off walls with news from Statistics Canada that higher exports of oil and cars saw Canada’s trade surplus with the U.S. grow in July. President Trump will likely continue to ignore the fact that this only narrowed Canada’s overall merchandise trade deficit to $4.9 billion for the month.
Exports to the U.S. in July increased by 5%, while imports from American producers declined 2.2%. The result was a $6.7 billion trade surplus with the U.S., up from $3.7 billion in June.
TD Bank economist Marc Ercolao said there is still considerable uncertainty on the trade front for the quarter ahead.
“On the plus side, the Canadian government recently removed counter-tariffs on U.S. imports, which should aid in more positive discussions with the U.S. administration around the state of trade,” Ercolao wrote in a note. “On the other hand, Canadian export rotation into non-U.S. markets may not be having the same staying-power as exports abruptly shifted back to the U.S. in July.”
