Cargo containers are stacked up as three cranes used to load and unload them from cargo ships tower above at the Port of Vancouver in Vancouver, B.C., in this file photo.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Statistics Canada says exports and imports both slipped in March, but the country's trade surplus rose to $351-million from $273-million in February.
The agency says exports edged down 0.4 per cent to $39.5-billion with shipments of energy products leading the decline.
Imports decreased 0.6 per cent to $39.1-billion amid lower imports of energy products and industrial goods and materials.
Exports to the United States — Canada's biggest market —fell 2.1 per cent to $28.7 billion, the third consecutive monthly decrease.
Meanwhile, imports from the U.S. declined 1.4 per cent to $24.1-billion as our trade surplus with the Americans decreased to $4.6-billion in March from $4.9-billion in February.
Exports to countries other than the United States rose 4.5 per cent to $10.8-billion and imports increased 0.8 per cent to $15.1-billion, narrowing the trade deficit with those countries to $4.3-billion from $4.6-billion in February.