The trade balance of Canada fell into the red in December due to an increase in imports of electronic products, announced the Canadian Institute of Statistics.

Canada posted a deficit of C$137 million (US$107.8 million) compared to a surplus of C$2.5 billion in November.

total imports increased by 3.7% and reached an “unprecedented peak”.

Imports of electronic and electrical equipment, parts increased by 16.2%, mainly due to imports of communication, audio and video equipment (+52.1%) such as smartphones, in a context of shortage of microchips which affects the global supply chain.

This shortage also affects the automotive sector, which stood out in December with a 5.1% increase in vehicle imports and auto parts, the highest level since February 2020.

The Department of Statistics of Canada points out that the supply difficulties in semiconductors “limit the manufacturing activity” of the country in 2021, in particular the manufacture of vehicles, which implies repercussions on exports, which register an increase of 22 % compared to 2020.

Exports in December fell 0.9% to $57.6 billion, with a drop in exports of energy products, notably oil, due to the significant drop in prices.

Despite this monthly decline, the Statistics Department of Canada noted that energy exports were up in 2021 with 82.8%, compared to 2020.

The coal exports collapsed by 33.5%a fall linked to the autumn boreal floods in the province of British Columbia and which disrupted the transport of goods.

Exports of consumer goods (+4.3%) were up thanks to the good figures for pharmaceutical products (+16.5%) and helped to “partially offset the decline” in exports of energy products, according to the entity .

The trade surplus with the United States, Canada’s largest trading partner, rose from $9.5 billion in November to $8.1 billion in December.

The trade deficit with the rest of the world widened from $7 billion to $8.2 billion.

For all of 2021, the trade surplus was $6.6 billion, the first annual surplus since 2014.