Canadian exports plunged by the most in nearly 17 years outside of the pandemic, widening the country’s merchandise trade deficit to the largest on record.

It was a third straight trade deficit for Canada, and a much bigger shortfall than the C$1.5 billion economists expected.

Canada's trade deficit in April widened to an all-time high of a whopping C$7.1 billion ($5.2 billion), data showed on Thursday, as tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump sucked out demand for Canadian goods from the United States.