Statistics Canada announced on Tuesday that Canada recorded a trade surplus of CAD0.59 billion in April, compared with a revised CAD1.35-billion gap in February (originally a CAD1.14-billion shortfall). 

Economists had forecast a deficit of CAD0.70 billion.

According to the report, Canada’s exports fell 1.0 percent m-o-m to CAD50.21 billion in April, as a sharp decline in exports of motor vehicles and parts (-18.1 percent m-o-m) was partly offset by a jump in exports of consumer goods (+14.4 percent m-o-m). Meanwhile, imports dropped 4.6 percent m-o-m (the most since the historic declines of April 20200 to CAD49.61 billion in April, in large part due to a significant decrease in Imports of motor vehicles and parts (-22.1 percent m-o-m). The plunge in the trade of motor vehicles and parts was mainly the result of production shutdowns in the auto assembly industry in April because of the shortage of semiconductor chips, the report noted.