Canada’s merchandise trade surplus rose to $5.8 billion in April, up from $5.1 billion in March as imports declined while exports showed little change, Statistics Canada reported today.

The surplus exceeded economists expectations by $1 billion.

StatsCan said exports edged down 0.3% to $40.7 billion from a revised $40.8 billion in March. Imports fell 2.2% to $34.9 billion.

Canada’s trade surplus with the United States slipped to $8 billion, while the deficit with the rest of the world narrowed to $2.3 billion as exports to countries other than the United States were up 7.7% to $10.1 billion while imports from those countries were little changed at $12.4 billion.

Exports to the United States fell 2.6% to $30.6 billion, while imports from Canada’s principal trading partner decreased 3.3% to $22.6 billion.

Meanwhile, the U.S. trade deficit receded sharply in April as strong overseas demand pushed U.S. exports to an all-time high.

The U.S. Commerce Department said that trade gap totalled US$58.5 billion in April, a 6.2% decline from the March deficit.

Exports edged up 0.2% to US$129.5 billion, reflecting strong sales of soybeans and other farm products, commercial aircraft and industrial machinery.

Imports fell 1.9% to US$188 billion as shipments of foreign oil dropped slightly even though the average price of crude oil increased.

The improvement in the deficit was better than the small decline analysts had been expecting.

The U.S. trade gap with China jumped 12.3% to $19.4 billion in April, the biggest deficit since January.