Canada trade claims vs. the numbers
Trump has said the U.S. runs a $200 billion or $250 billion trade deficit with Canada. Official data put it at a fraction of that, driven mostly by oil.
At the World Economic Forum in January 2025, Trump said the U.S. trade deficit with Canada was $200 billion or $250 billion. Bureau of Economic Analysis data put the 2023 goods-and-services deficit at about $40.6 billion, or about $72.3 billion counting goods alone. Economists note the gap comes largely from U.S. imports of cheap Canadian crude oil; without energy, Canada runs a deficit with the U.S.
In the same appearance he said the European Union barely takes U.S. farm goods, though the EU is a top-five market for them, and blamed Joe Biden for the China trade deficit, though the record was set in 2018, during Trump's first term.
The claims kept coming as the trade war escalated. In August 2026, CNN's Daniel Dale listed recent falsehoods, including Trump's statement that Canada's unemployment rate was 10 percent and rising, when it was 6.4 percent and falling.
The receipts
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CNN (via ABC17) by Daniel Dale
Fact check: Trump makes false claims about trade with Canada and Europe in remarks to DavosRaw Story (as shared in our notes) byline on original
CNN anchor applauds fact check of Trump's speech at DavosCBC News byline on original
Fact-checking Donald Trump's claims about Canada in his global tariff speechMediaite byline on original
CNN's Daniel Dale on Trump's falsehoods about Canada