Canadian international trade data for September will be delayed indefinitely due to the ongoing partial shutdown of the United States government, Statistics Canada said Friday, Oct. 24.
Canada’s international merchandise trade data for September 2025 had been scheduled for release on Nov. 4. The monthly report includes detailed information on export destinations for Canadian grains and oilseeds.
Why it matters: The trade data is integral to the supply/demand balance sheets used in helping determine prices for agricultural commodities.
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The U.S. Census Bureau is caught up in the partial government shutdown, which began Oct. 1. The statistical agency is responsible for compiling international merchandise trade statistics.
“This shutdown directly impacts Statistics Canada’s ability to compile and publish Canadian international merchandise trade data, as Statistics Canada will not receive data on Canada’s exports to the United States for the duration of the shutdown,” said StatCan in statement on its website.
Canada and the U.S. have shared merchandise import data under a four-party agreement involving customs and statistical agencies from both countries since 1990. Under this agreement, the import data from one country are used to compile the export data of the other. “This arrangement ensures optimal data quality and comparability and reduces the administrative burden on exporting companies since they only need to report customs declarations to the importing country.”
The most recent disruption prior to this was in December 2018, when a 35-day U.S. government shutdown led to the postponement of the international merchandise trade statistics publication for the December 2018 reference month and the rescheduling of several subsequent releases once U.S. operations resumed.
Other quarterly StatCan macroeconomic indicators rely on international merchandise trade data as an input and may be delayed as well or compiled using other estimates.
StatCan said its current approach was to delay publication of the monthly trade data but was closely monitoring the situation and would consider other options if the U.S. shutdown persists.
