For 2007 as a whole, Canada's trade surplus with the world narrowed from $51.3 billion in 2006 to $49.7 billion, the lowest level since 1999.
Both exports and imports hit record highs in 2007, and merchandise exports to countries other than the United States rose dramatically. Although it is still Canada's biggest trading partner, the United States accounted for about three-quarters (76.4%) of Canada's exports in 2007, down from 79.2% in 2006. On the other hand, the share of export trade with the rest of the world rose from 20.8% to 23.6%.
Exports fall despite record exports of crude petroleum
Widespread declines overshadowed gains in energy products, the only significant sector to record an increase in December. Industrial goods and materials and automotive products led the decline.
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Trade Surplus At Lowest Since 1999
Posted on Thursday, February 14 at 13:01 by N SayContributed By
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Julian Beltrame, The Canadian Press<br />
February 14, 2008 - 5:57 p.m.<br />
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OTTAWA - Canada's trade surplus shrank to a nine-year low in December as the higher dollar and lower demand from the United States began to take a bit out of the positive economic story of the past decade.<br />
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Statistics Canada reported that the trade surplus shrank to $2.4 billion in the month from a revised November estimate of $3.8 billion as exports fell 3.1 per cent to $36.7 billion.<br />
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But the other side of the story is that imports, boosted by Canadians' improved purchasing power, continued to rise, as reflected in the 0.7 per cent pickup in imports.<br />
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BMO deputy chief economist Douglas Porter said the December numbers shows the nominal trade surplus for all of the fourth quarter (October-December) was $9.2 billion.<br />
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"It's not ideal," Porter said. "This suggests that the current account deficit including, services and investment income, may have dipped into the red in the quarter."<br />
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This would be the first time since 1992 that Canada's current account balance has slipped into deficit, erasing a federal government boast that Canada is the only country in the G-7 with both a trade and budgetary surplus.<br />
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But Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Thursday the December trade numbers don't signal the country is heading into the lean years of the past, when current account deficits were the norm through most of the '70s, '80s and early '90s.<br />
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Saying that previous deficits were due to government overspending, "what we're seeing now is a weakness in the U.S. economy and a very strong economy here in Canada."<br />
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<a href="http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/market_news/article.jsp?content=b0214125A">http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/market_news/article.jsp?content=b0214125A</a><p>---<br>"George Bush has declared the war on terrorism to be the cause of his generation. The cause of Canadian sovereignty will be ours." - John Godfrey, MP for Don Va