Canada trade deficit widens to $2 billion

OTTOWA - Agence France-Presse

A family walks on ice near the board walk at Harbor Front in Toronto. AP photo

Canada’s trade deficit widened to $2 billion in November as imports rose and exports fell slightly, the government’s statistics agency has said.

The eighth consecutive monthly deficit was up from a revised $552 million in October, Statistics Canada said on Jan. 11.

Exports declined 0.9 percent to Can$37.5 billion, as foreign sales of canola and other crops fell. Imports rose 2.7 percent to $39.5 billion led by higher volumes of cell phones. Sales of motor vehicles, automotive parts, unwrought precious metals and precious metal alloys were also up.

Canadians sold more lubricants and other petroleum products, dyes and pigments, as well as petrochemicals, abroad in November. The country imported less gasoline but more basic chemicals.

Exports to the United States, Canada’s largest trading partner, meanwhile, grew 3.9 percent to $28.3 billion, while imports from the United States rose for a third month in a row to $25.0 billion.

Consequently, Canada’s trade surplus with the United States increased from $2.7 billion in October to $3.3 billion in November.