U.S. benefits from Canadian trade at least as much as Canada: report

A new report states that the U.S. benefits at least as much from trade with Canada as Canada benefits, according to economist Jim Stanford at the Centre for Future Work. The report claims that the U.S. has a large surplus in services trade with Canada, offsetting the merchandise trade deficit.
Trump’s assertion of a $200 billion trade deficit with Canada is false; the actual deficit was about $40.6 billion in 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Trump incorrectly stated that Canada spends “less than 1%” of GDP on defense, while official figures show it spent an estimated 1.37% in 2024.