Study: Canada's merchandise trade with the European Union
1995 to 2004
Canada's two-way merchandise trade with the European Union (EU) represented less than one-tenth of our total trade with the world in 2004, despite considerable gains in both exports and imports over the previous 10 years, according to a new report.
The EU accounted for 8% of our total trade in 2004, unchanged from a decade earlier.
But during this period, imports from the EU increased at twice the pace of our exports. As a result, Canada's trade deficit with the EU tripled from nearly $6.0 billion in 1995 to $19.4 billion in 2004. This was down slightly from the peak of $21.5 billion in 2002.
Exports rose at an annual average pace of 3.5%, while imports surged at an annual average rate of 7.1%. The annual rate of growth in imports from the EU was second only to the explosive growth in Canada's imports from the People's Republic of China.
Canada's primary imported merchandise from the EU has been machinery (dominated by aircraft engines), the value of which hit a record $7.5 billion in 2004. The EU's share of Canada's total imports of machinery has increased from 11% in 1995 to 13% in 2004.
However, Canadian imports of pharmaceutical products from the EU surged during the decade, increasing almost seven-fold to $4.2 billion in 2004. The EU now accounts for virtually half of Canada's total imports of pharmaceutical products.
In terms of exports, the picture would have been significantly worse during the decade had it not been for Canada's diamond exports from the North.
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