Canada’s global trade deficit narrows, U.S. exports hit low
Canada’s trade deficit narrowed in December even as its share of exports to the United States hit a record low.
Statistics Canada reported a 1.31 billion dollar deficit in December, led by metals and non-metallic mineral exports. This was in contrast to a 2.59 billion dollar deficit in November.
Total exports rose by 2.6 per cent, driven primarily by gold exports.
Exports to the U.S. rose by 1.1 per cent, but their share of total exports accounted for just over 67.4 per cent. That’s compared to 76.2 per cent a year ago. This was the lowest share of exports to the U.S. since data collection began, other than a couple of months during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Share of exports to the U.S. on a full-year basis dropped to 72 per cent in 2025 from 76 per cent a year earlier. This is more likely an indication of a trend than a single-month movement, said Stuart Bergman, chief economist at Export Development Canada.
India likely to triple lentil import tariff
India is likely to increase its import duty on lentils an analyst says.
Gaurav Jain, an analyst with AgPulse Analytica, expects the Government of India to hike the existing 10 per cent duty to 30 per cent as of April first.
The Indian government has repeatedly told its farmers it will purchase all of their 2026 lentils, among other pulses, at its minimum support price. The minimum price for lentils is about US$771 per tonne.
Imported lentils are selling for about US$600 per tonne.
That’s why Jain and others expect India to hike hits duty to raise the price of imported products to around IS$710 per tonne. While still below the minimum support price, many Indian farmers would sell to private traders because it’s less hassle. This would ease the burden on the government while raising prices for farmers.
Jain said the duty hike is inevitable, which is why he’s seen many shipments in January and February.
Beef, pork sectors want mandatory price reporting
Canada’s beef and pork sectors want mandatory price reporting – a practice similar to that in the United States. That’s according to industry groups’ recent testimony to the House of Commons agriculture committee.
Canadian Pork Council chair Rene Roy said the correlation between the Canadian price and U.S. benchmark is a critical issue for the industry. He said too often the price paid to Canadian producers is not aligned with the reference market and there’s no way for producers to identify the cause.
Price transparency would also correct certain price distortions said Louis-Phillipe Roy, who represents Quebec’s pork sector. For example, he said American prices dropped between 2015 and 2019 due to a production surplus. Quebec producers saw a similar decrease despite actually having a deficit of production.
Brenna Grant is executive director of Canfax. She said the Canadian beef industry had reporting from 2003 to 2020. They’ve tried to bring it back, but packers have objected on the grounds of confidentiality.
Canadian Cattle Association executive vice president Dennis Laycraft said he wasn’t sure if mandatory reporting would work for the beef sector because the processing options are so limited.
