Canada's overall trade surplus ballooned by more than 430% between July and August 2026, as exporters rushed to get ahead of Trump administration tariffs coming into force late in the month that threatened to put a crimp on trade with Canada's largest market by far.
According to government data released on October 6, Canada's trade surplus grew from $787 million in July to a four-year high of $4.2 billion in August. That was helped by a 17.4% increase in refined petroleum exports, a 43.3% bump in miscellaneous goods and supplies exports (primarily from shipments of gold and silver coins to the U.S.), and a 10.1% increase in industrial machinery exports. Total imports fell by 2% compared to the previous month, marking the first monthly decline Canada has logged since January.
At the same time, the U.S. trade deficit grew by nearly 14% between July and August, rising from $92.8 billion to $105.6 billion, and representing the widest gap since the April 2025 announcement of President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs that were supposed to lessen the deficit. That came as imports increased by 4.3% month-to-month in August, while exports saw a more modest 1.4% bump.
U.S. tariffs against $20 billion worth of Canadian goods went into effect on August 22. Canada responded with dollar-for-dollar retaliatory levies that came into force on September 8.
