Canada’s trade surplus rebounded in August to the second highest level in three and a half years as imports fell at a faster rate than exports, Statistics Canada said today.

StatsCan said exports declined slightly for a second month in a row, falling 0.4% to $37.8 billion on lower exports to the United States and Japan.

However, Canadian imports fell 4.4% from July as Canadian companies imported $30.2 billion worth of merchandise.

As a result, Canada’s merchandise trade surplus jumped by $1.3 billion to $7.5 billion.

Canada’s trade surplus with the United States topped $10 billion for only the third time on record. A drop of 6.5% in imports from the U.S. more than offset a drop of 1.1% in exports to that country, leading to a $1.1 billion increase in Canada’s trade surplus with the United States — to $10.1 billion.

In the United States, the trade deficit grew in August to US$54 billion, the second highest level on record, due to the rise in oil prices.

The U.S. Commerce Department said imports during the month grew to US$150.1 billion, driven by a 12.2% increase in oil shipments. Petroleum imports grew to a record US$15.6 billion.

U.S. exports grew by only 0.1% in the month to US$96 billion.