The Financial Post reports in its Saturday edition that Canada posted a $583-million trade deficit in October, but surging precious-metal exports are doing a lot of heavy lifting. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post says strip those out, and Canada would have a $8.2-billion shortfall. The gap underscores how the country's trade fortunes have become more dependent on global demand for bullion. Gold prices have jumped as investors flock to haven assets due to rising geopolitical uncertainty. The rally is boosting the value of Canada's precious-metal exports, with shipment volumes also increasing. That is helping steady export performance even as U.S. tariffs squeeze Canadian sectors and weigh on global growth. Strong gold shipments to Britain pushed Canada's overall exports to non-U.S. countries to new heights in October. The share of Canada's exports bound for the U.S. fell to a record low, outside of the pandemic period. "As of October, precious metals (unwrought + alloys) made up roughly 13 per cent of Canadian exports," Bank of Montreal economist Shelly Kaushik said in a note. "For the first time on record (or 1997), that's more than exports of oil or autos."