schema:articleBody
| - Canada posted a Can$1.1 billion ($833 million) trade deficit in November, down sharply from the previous month amid disruptions caused by a railroad strike, the government statistics agency said Tuesday. Exports fell 1.4 percent to 48.7 billion, the lowest level for November since 2013, while imports slid 2.4 percent to 49.8 billion during the month. "Widespread declines across export and import products coincided with disruptions in Canadian rail transportation," Statistics Canada said. Transportation Minister Marc Garneau had warned previously that the week-long strike would have an important economic impact, since it affected 90 percent of normal freight train traffic and the shipment of about 170,000 barrels of oil a day. Some 3,000 striking workers at Canadian National, one of the largest railroads in North American, reached an agreement in principle with management at the end of November. Aluminum, iron and steel exports "were particularly affected by the rail transportation disruptions in November," Statistics Canada said. Additionally, a new trade agreement with the United States and Mexico affecting those products was not signed until December. But the main factor in the overall decline in exports was a 7.4 percent drop-off in energy exports following an oil pipeline rupture in October, the agency said. The trade deficit for the month of October, meanwhile, was revised upward to $1.6 billion from the previous estimate of $1.1 billion. ast/et/jm/ft
|