Calgary trade deals with U.S. hit all-time low, but businesses seeing global growth

Trade deals between Calgary-based businesses and the U.S. have hit an all-time low, but local business owners say the shift has contributed to their growth in international markets.

According to data released Tuesday from Calgary Economic Development (CED), of all the trade deals it attracted last year, less than a quarter were with the U.S. — the smallest share of trade deals on record. In 2024, 35 per cent of CED-supported deals were with the U.S.

The change is primarily a result of the economic uncertainty surrounding tariffs U.S. President Donald Trump imposed on Canada last February, said Brad Parry, CED’s president and chief executive officer.

“It's also a combination of people realizing that we can't just rely on one single trade partner,” Parry told CBC Radio’s Calgary Eyeopener on Tuesday. 

“We're never going to replace the U.S. as our core trading partner, but we do need to think about other places that we should be looking for products and services.”

This local diversification comes as the federal government has been making efforts to increase trade with countries outside of North America, launching a new trade diversification strategy last fall and signing a trade deal with China earlier this year.

CED-supported companies expanded into 21 countries in 2025, generating $60 million in revenue through 45 international trade deals. The majority of businesses have been exploring markets in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and Oceania, it said.

Parry said fewer local trade deals with companies in the U.S. doesn't mean businesses are walking away from their southern neighbour entirely.

“We're just trying to open up new markets to give our companies even a greater chance to scale and grow,” he said.

One of those Calgary businesses seeing international growth is Righteous Gelato. It recently signed a deal to sell two of its top flavours in Costco in Japan.

“Those are going to be running for two weeks at three different warehouses,” said Marilyn Way, the company's product and brand commercialization lead. “After that, we'll hopefully be able to get a rotation with those products on shelf for a full summer.”

Way said the deal in Japan was “not an overnight kind of thing”; it was the result of years of work with CED to get into the international market.

Way said the company is hoping the Japan deal will act as a springboard for deals in other markets, such as Korea.

But they are not planning on leaving the U.S. market behind completely.