A new analysis from Export Development Canada finds that Canada’s trade relationship with the U.S. has proven resilient, but the impacts have been highly concentrated in sectors that matter to Ontario and Huron County, including manufacturing, steel, aluminum, forestry and automotive supply chains.

A few findings stood out:

• Most Canada-U.S. trade continues to move duty-free under CUSMA, but compliance has become more complex and costly.
• Canada’s exports to the U.S. declined in 2025, while exports to other markets and growth in services helped offset some of the losses.
• Just a handful of product categories accounted for more than half of all U.S. duties paid on Canadian goods.
• Canadian businesses are increasingly looking beyond the U.S. for future growth, with Europe and the Asia-Pacific emerging as key opportunities.

For Huron County businesses, the report reinforces something we’ve been hearing locally. Even companies that are not directly exporting can feel the effects through customers, suppliers, investment decisions and overall business confidence.

The trade relationship remains critically important, but resilience increasingly means diversification as well as continued access to the U.S. market.

Source: Export Development Canada (EDC).