It was a third straight trade deficit for Canada, and a much bigger shortfall than the C$1.5 billion economists expected.

Canadian exports plunged by the most in nearly 17 years outside of the pandemic, widening the country’s merchandise trade deficit to the largest on record.

Canada's trade deficit in April widened to an all-time high of a whopping C$7.1 billion ($5.2 billion), data showed on Thursday, as tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump sucked out demand for Canadian goods from the United States.