Canadian international merchandise trade, August 2025
Released: 2025-10-07
In August, Canada's merchandise exports fell 3.0%, while imports were up 0.9%. Both movements were influenced by strong variations for unwrought gold in the month. Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world widened from $3.8 billion in July to $6.3 billion in August.
Consult the "International trade monthly interactive dashboard" to explore the most recent results of Canada's international trade in an interactive format.
Chart 1
Merchandise exports and imports
First decrease in exports since April
Following three consecutive monthly increases, total exports were down 3.0% in August. Despite the high volatility in Canadian exports since the beginning of 2025, and the implementation of tariffs by the US government, total exports for the first eight months of the year were still up slightly (+0.3%) compared with the same period in 2024. Overall, decreases were observed in 8 of the 11 product sections in August 2025. In real (or volume) terms, total exports were down 2.8%.
Chart 2
Contribution to the monthly change in exports, by product, August 2025
Exports of metal and non-metallic mineral products (-7.6%) decreased the most in August, posting a strong decline for the third consecutive month. Lower exports of unwrought gold, silver, and platinum group metals, and their alloys—a category largely composed of unwrought gold—were behind the decrease in August (-11.8%), as they were in June and July. Despite three consecutive monthly decreases, which followed a record high in May, these exports were more than 30% higher in the first eight months of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024. The August decline was almost entirely due to a drop in exports of unwrought gold to the United States.
Exports of industrial machinery, equipment and parts were down 9.5% in August, the first decline in four months. Most subcategories within the product section posted declines in August, led by the other general-purpose machinery and equipment subcategory (-11.6%), which was down on lower exports to the United States. Following a record high in July, exports of commercial and service industry machinery and equipment fell 26.1% in August, mainly on lower shipments to France, the United States and Poland. Exports of other industry-specific manufacturing machinery (-16.0%) were down mostly because of lower exports to the United States and Germany.
Chart 3
Exports of industrial machinery, equipment and parts
Exports of forestry products and building and packaging materials were down 10.1% in August. Exports of lumber and other sawmill products (-25.4%) were down the most, reaching their lowest level since May 2020. The steep decline in August 2025 followed the increase of anti-dumping and countervailing duty rates on Canadian softwood lumber that took effect in the United States in late July and early August.
Chart 4
Exports of lumber and other sawmill products
Imports up on a large increase for gold
Following a 1.3% decrease in July, total imports rose 0.9% in August. The gain was largely the result of an increase in imports of metal and non-metallic mineral products, for which large imports of unwrought gold were reported in August. Excluding this product section, total imports were down 1.0%. Overall, decreases were observed in 6 of 11 product sections. Higher prices contributed to the monthly increase in imports; in real (or volume) terms, total imports were down 0.3% in August.
Chart 5
Contribution to the monthly change in imports, by product, August 2025
Imports of metal and non-metallic mineral products jumped 24.2% in August. Higher imports of unwrought gold, silver, and platinum group metals, and their alloys were behind the monthly gain, increasing more than fourfold. This followed large declines observed from May to July, which occurred after a record high was set in April. In the context of the uncertainty related to recent tariffs imposed by the United States, imports of gold continue to show great volatility in 2025. Higher shipments of gold from South Africa and Switzerland were observed in August.
Chart 6
Imports and exports of unwrought gold, silver, and platinum group metals, and their alloys
Imports of consumer goods increased 2.3% in August, partly because of higher prices. Among the product subcategories, imports of pharmaceutical products (+24.6%) were up the most in August, with increased shipments from Switzerland and Belgium.
The increase in total imports in August was partly offset by a 12.8% decrease in imports of energy products. After reaching a low in May, imports of crude oil and bitumen were up 43.4% cumulatively in June and July, then fell 26.1% in August. Lower imports of crude oil from the United States were behind the monthly decline.
Please see the Note to readers below for information on the impacts of the Canada Border Services Agency Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) digital initiative on Canada's import statistics.
Exports to the United States decrease after rising for three consecutive months
Exports to the United States decreased 3.4% in August, in part because of lower exports of unwrought gold. Meanwhile, imports from the United States fell 1.4% in August. When comparing the first eight months of 2025 with the same period in 2024, exports were down 3.3% while imports were 0.5% lower. Canada's trade surplus with the United States narrowed from $7.4 billion in July to $6.4 billion in August.
Chart 7
Merchandise trade with the United States
Exports to countries other than the United States fall, while imports from these countries rise
Exports to countries other than the United States were down 2.0% in August, a third consecutive monthly decline. Lower exports to Germany (crude oil), Japan (nuclear fuel) and Singapore (crude oil) contributed the most to the monthly decrease. Meanwhile, imports from countries other than the United States rose 4.2%, reaching a record in August. Canada's trade deficit with countries other than the United States also set a record, widening from $11.2 billion in July to $12.8 billion in August.
Chart 8
Merchandise trade with countries other than the United States
Chart 9
International merchandise trade balance
Revisions to July merchandise export and import data
Imports in July, originally reported at $66.8 billion in the previous release, were revised to $66.3 billion in the current reference month's release. Exports in July, originally reported at $61.9 billion in the previous release, were revised to $62.5 billion in the current reference month's release.
Monthly trade in services
In August, monthly service exports edged down 0.2% to $18.7 billion. Meanwhile, imports of services were essentially unchanged at $18.4 billion.
When international trade in goods and services are combined, exports decreased 2.3% to $79.3 billion in August, while imports increased 0.7% to $85.3 billion. As a result, Canada's total trade deficit with the world went from $3.5 billion in July to $6.0 billion in August.
Focus on Canada and the United States
Exports of Canadian aluminum
Earlier this year, the US government announced a series of new tariffs on imports of Canadian-origin goods. Many products were affected—some more than others. Canada's exports of aluminum were particularly impacted by US sectoral tariffs.
Tariffs on Canadian aluminum were first applied by the United States on March 12, at a rate of 25%. On June 4, the tariff rate increased to 50%, with no Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) exemptions permitted for these products.
In 2024, Canadian domestic exports of aluminum amounted to $13.4 billion, with a monthly average of $1.1 billion. More than 94% of these exports were destined to the United States, and almost 80% originated from the province of Quebec. In the first three months of 2025, prior to the implementation of these tariffs, Canadian exports of aluminum posted strong results, reaching a peak of $1.4 billion in March. However, after the implementation of the US tariffs, these exports decreased substantially, averaging $848 million per month from April to August—a decrease of more than 24% compared with the monthly average of 2024 as a whole.
In terms of destination countries, while the ratio of exports of aluminum to the United States remained high at 83.4% during the April-to-August period, higher exports to several countries other than the United States have been observed. When comparing the levels in 2025 (through August) with all of 2024, exports to the Netherlands are already up by 74.3% in 2025, exports to Italy have almost doubled, and exports to Poland have increased fourfold.
Although Canada recently removed its retaliatory tariffs on many US goods (which were initially put in place on March 13), tariffs on aluminum made in the United States remain in effect. The impact of these tariffs on Canadian imports was less notable, in part because Canada imports significantly less aluminum than it exports (exports were 3.5 times higher in 2024). The total value of aluminum imports has shown little variation so far in 2025 compared with the monthly average in 2024, both in the lead up to the tariffs (January to March 2025) and after their implementation (April to August 2025). However, despite the relative stability of the import value so far in 2025, the share of Canada's aluminum imports originating from the United States decreased from an average of 55.1% in 2024, to 45.9% from April to August 2025.
Chart 10
Domestic exports of aluminum
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Note to readers
Information on concepts and methods used for the monthly release of Canada's international merchandise trade is now available online. Please see "Notes on the monthly release of Canadian international merchandise trade" for more details.
For a detailed overview of the Canadian International Merchandise Trade program, please see "Reference Guide to Canadian International Merchandise Trade Statistics."
Important notice to users of import statistics following the implementation of CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM)
Statistics Canada's primary data source used in the compilation of import statistics has undergone a significant transition as a result of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) digital initiative, implemented on October 21, 2024. The CARM transition has led to delays in the receipt of import data at Statistics Canada, affecting the completeness and quality of import statistics.
While the timely collection of import data is progressively improving and patterns stabilizing, Statistics Canada's monthly estimates for data that will be received after collection deadlines remain larger than they were prior to the CARM transition. In light of this greater use of estimation and the ongoing refinement of estimation methods, revisions related to the CARM transition remain possible for the reference months of November 2024 through August 2025. Statistics Canada will provide further updates as the situation evolves.
Note on the US government shutdown
Under the terms of a data sharing agreement, Canada and the United States both use the other country's import data to produce their export statistics. On October 1, 2025, a partial shutdown of the US federal government came into effect, impacting the operations of the United States Census Bureau (USCB). As a result, Statistics Canada will not receive data on Canada's exports to the United States for the duration of the shutdown. As all data had been received from the USCB prior to October 1, the shutdown does not impact the completeness of statistics published for the August 2025 reference month. As in the past, a prolonged shutdown could lead to a postponement of the publication of Canadian International Merchandise Trade statistics in future months. Statistics Canada is closely monitoring this situation and will provide further information on potential impacts to its statistical programs as needed.
Real-time data table
The real-time data table 12-10-0165-01 will be updated on October 20.
Next release
Data on Canadian international merchandise trade for September will be released on November 4.
Products
The International trade statistics portal is now available on the Statistics Canada website.
The product "International trade monthly interactive dashboard" (71-607-X) is now available. This interactive dashboard is a comprehensive analytical tool that presents monthly changes in Canada's international merchandise trade data on a balance-of-payments basis, fully supporting the information presented every month in the Daily release.
The product "The International Trade Explorer" (71-607-X) is now available online.
The updated "Canada and the World Statistics Hub" (13-609-X) is available online. This product illustrates the nature and extent of Canada's economic and financial relationship with the world using interactive charts and tables. It provides easy access to information on trade, investment, employment and travel between Canada and a number of countries, including the United States, Mexico, China, Japan, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.
The product "Canada's international trade and investment country fact sheet" (71-607-X) is also available.
The online Canadian International Merchandise Trade Database is no longer available. It has been replaced by the Canadian International Merchandise Trade Web Application (71-607-X), a modern tool that provides trade data users with a number of enhancements.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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