Canada's trade deficit hit its highest level in nearly three years as exports fell due to weak external demand

　　The Canadian (CAN) goods trade gap posted a deficit for the second consecutive month as exports fell.

　　Statistics Canada's (CanStat) monthly report on International merchandise trade shows exports fell 1.1 per cent in June, while imports fell 0.5 per cent. The trade deficit rose C $1 billion from the previous month to C $3.7 billion, the highest level since October 2020. In the second quarter, imports fell 0.4 percent, while imports increased 0.9 percent.

　　Andrew Grantham, an economist at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), said: "This will make overall growth increasingly dependent on domestic demand, especially consumer spending, which appears to be slowly becoming less resilient in a higher interest rate environment."

　　"The soft economic data at the end of the second quarter suggests a continuation of that pattern at the start of the third quarter," said Shelly Kaushik, an economist at Bank of Montreal.