OTTAWA, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Canada's international trade surplus narrowed to 1.0 billion Canadian dollars (about 792 million U.S. dollars) in February from the previous month's 1.2 billion Canadian dollars, according to Statistics Canada on Wednesday.
Canada's exports decreased by 2.7 percent in February while imports fell 2.4 percent. As a result, the country's trade surplus with the world was down to 1.0 billion Canadian dollars.
It was the first time since late 2016 that the trade balance was in a surplus position for two consecutive months.
Recently, the worldwide short supply of semiconductor chips had a significant impact on Canadian exports and imports of motor vehicles and parts in February.
The shortage of semiconductor chips is expected to further reduce vehicle production in Canada in the months ahead.
Canada's exports of motor vehicles and parts dropped 10.2 percent to 6.1 billion Canadian dollars, the second-largest drop in the exported product sections in February, a level 4.1 percent higher than that set in February 2020.
In real terms, total exports were down 3.8 percent.
Meanwhile, the imports of motor vehicles and parts fell 7.8 percent to 8 billion Canadian dollars, the largest decrease among import product sections in February.
The country's total imports fell 2.4 percent in February to 48.8 billion Canadian dollars, their lowest level since August 2020.
In real terms, total imports were down 3.5 percent. Enditem