Canada’s trade balance moved from a surplus to a deficit in October, a month when exports to countries other than the

neighbouring United States reached ‘a record high,’ the Canadian statistics agency reported Thursday.

The surplus recorded in September, estimated at CAN$243 million (US$175.15 million), turned into a deficit of CAN$583 million (US$420.2 million) the following month, according to Statistics Canada.

In the midst of a trade dispute with the southern neighbour, its main economic partner, Canada saw its total exports rise by 2.1 per cent while imports increased by 3.4 per cent in October, the agency said in a statement.

Negotiations between Ottawa and Washington have been at a standstill since October. That’s when US president Donald Trump, angered by a Canadian ad aired on US television during baseball’s championship series between the

Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers, broke off talks with prime minister Mark Carney’s government.

‘Exports to countries other than the United States rose 15.6 per cent to reach a record high in October,’ the statistics agency said.

Canadian trade with the United States remained in surplus in October, but that narrowed from CAN$8.4 billion ($US6.05 billion) the previous month to CAN$4.8 billion ($US3.46 billion).

‘As was the case in September, exports of unwrought gold, silver, and platinum group metals, and their alloys increased the most in October,’ the statistics agency said.

Despite the overall increase, exports fell in some other categories of goods, it said.

Excluding gold shipments, total exports fell by 2.5 per cent in October.

‘Canadian exporters remain challenged by US tariffs and uncertainty around CUSMA renegotiations, and likely won’t see a sustained improvement in activity until that uncertainty fades,’ Katherine Judge, an economist at the CIBC bank, said in a note, referring to a three-way trade agreement between Canada, the US and Mexico.