The Canadian figures erase any shadow of doubt. Between January and August, external purchases by the country led by Mark Carney increased 5%, a sign that its internal demand did not fall.
The reaction had a nationalist tone. Canada removed products from shelves, placed labels of origin to distinguish what was theirs from what was not theirs and promoted campaigns that called for limiting the consumption of American goods.
In August, When Canada recorded its lowest volume imported from the United States, the table turned and Mexico took the lead. He did it without a party behind him. Data from the Bank of Mexico show that Mexican imports from the United States contracted 6%.
Frictions between Ottawa and Washington remain alive. Carney decided to maintain mirror tariffs only in what, in his opinion, does not comply with the Agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC). Negotiations between the two have been suspended since October 24, after the episode in Ontario that used Ronald Reagan’s image to defend tariffs and unleashed another political spark.
That silence opens space for Mexico to retain the place it occupied this summer in the US charts.
Meanwhile Carney is not running. The prime minister said he will speak to Trump again “when appropriate,” perhaps in a couple of weeks.
“I hope to speak with the president soon, but I don’t have any urgent matters to discuss with him at this time,” Carney maintains.
Canada increased its imports, but not from the US
Canada increased its external purchases in the first months of the year. Countries like Mexico registered an increase and China took flight due to lower demand for American goods.
The United States goods with the greatest decline in the Canadian market were metallic and non-metallic products, energy and agricultural products.
Canada gives way to Mexico
Given the drop in Canadian purchases, Mexico became the main destination for United States exports, but Mexican imports did not increase from Washington.
