Canada posts a trade surplus in September beating expectations of a deficit

OTTAWA, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Canada posted a small monthly international trade surplus in September, reversing a trend of seven consecutive months of deficits, data showed on Thursday.

It registered a marginal trade surplus of C$153 million ($110.92 million) in September, following a C$6.43 billion deficit in the prior month, Statistics Canada said.

This was the first ever surplus that Canada has posted since President Donald Trump threatened and later imposed tariffs on critical sectors which choked significant exports to the U.S., Canada's biggest trading partner.

A bulk of the surplus was driven by a 44% jump in Canada's trade surplus with the U.S., StatsCan's data showed.

The September trade data, which was due in November, was delayed as information for Canadian exports to the U.S. were unavailable due to a 43-day government shutdown in the U.S.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast the trade deficit at C$4.5 billion for September.

Canada's total exports in September grew by 6.3% to C$64.23 billion, rebounding from a drop of 3.2% in August, and were driven by higher exports in nine out of 11 product sections. This was the largest percentage increase since February 2024.

Exports of metal and non-metallic mineral products and aircraft and transportation equipment and parts led the gains with a rise of over 20% in exports. In volume terms, total exports rose 4.1%, the statistics agency said.

Total merchandise imports dropped by 4.1% in September to C$64.08 billion.

SURPLUS WITH THE U.S.

Exports to the U.S. grew by 4.6% in September to C$45.84 billion, helped by outbound shipments of aircraft, light trucks and unwrought gold, StatsCan said.

The U.S. accounted for over 71% of Canada's exports in September.

Imports from the U.S. declined 1.7% in September, a third consecutive monthly decrease, taking Canada's trade surplus to the U.S. to its highest level since February.

Exports to countries besides the U.S. also posted a sharp jump of 11%, led by higher shipments of unwrought gold, crude oil and aircraft. Imports from countries other than the U.S. dropped 7.3%.

Canada's trade deficit with countries other than the United States narrowed, posting the lowest deficit since October 2024, Statistics Canada said.

($1 = 1.3794 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Promit Mukherjee; Editing by Dale Smith)