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Canada's merchandise exports fell 1.7% in June while imports decreased 0.2%. As a result, Canada's trade deficit with the world widened from $1.0 billion in May to $1.6 billion in June.
Exports fell to $36.5 billion, largely the result of declines in energy products and automotive products. Volumes, which decreased 2.2%, were down in five out of seven sectors. Prices increased 0.5%, and were up in all sectors, except energy products.
Merchandise imports declined to $38.0 billion, led by energy products. Overall, prices fell 2.1% and volumes increased 1.9%.
Exports to the United States declined 2.4% to $26.5 billion in June, while imports fell 2.3% to $22.8 billion. Canada's trade surplus with the United States went from $3.7 billion in May to $3.6 billion in June.
Imports from countries other than the United States increased 3.1% to a record high of $15.2 billion. Exports to countries other than the United States edged up 0.3% to $10.0 billion. Canada's trade deficit with countries other than the United States widened from $4.8 billion in May to a record $5.2 billion in June.
Note to readers
Merchandise trade is one component of Canada's international balance of payments, which also includes trade in services, investment income, current transfers as well as capital and financial flows
International merchandise trade data by country are available on both a balance of payments (BOP) and a customs basis for the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom. Trade data for all other individual countries are available on a customs basis only. Balance of payments data are derived from customs data by making adjustments for factors such as valuation, coverage, timing and residency. These adjustments are made to conform to the concepts and definitions of the Canadian System of National Accounts.
Data in this release are on a balance of payments basis, seasonally adjusted in current dollars. Constant dollars are calculated using the Laspeyres volume formula.
New aggregation structure
Statistics Canada will introduce a new aggregation structure, the North American Product Classification System (NAPCS), to organize and present import and export statistics in various programs. The new structure will replace the classification structures known as the summary import groups (SIG) and the summary export groups (SEG) and the higher level aggregations; Major Groups, Subsectors, Sectors and Sections that have been in use for several decades. The first release of data using the new structure will be on June 8, 2012 for the April reference month.
Readers interested in this upcoming change can find more detailed information on Statistics Canada's web page dedicated to classification consultation and notification at /concepts/consult-napcs-scpan-eng.htm.
Revisions
In general, merchandise trade data are revised on an ongoing basis for each month of the current year. Current year revisions are reflected in both the customs and BOP based data. The previous year's customs data are revised with the release of the January and February reference months as well as on a quarterly basis. The previous two years of customs based data are revised annually and are released in February with the December reference month. The previous year's BOP based data are revised with the release of the January, February and March reference months. Revisions to BOP based data for the previous three years are released annually in June with the April reference month.
Factors influencing revisions include late receipt of import and export documentation, incorrect information on customs forms, replacement of estimates produced for the energy sector with actual figures, changes in classification of merchandise based on more current information, and changes to seasonal adjustment factors.
Revised data are available in the appropriate CANSIM tables.
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