The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday edition that Canada's trade surplus with the United States grew to $11.2-billion in August from $6.1-billion in July, the largest positive monthly change since 1997, as exports surged ahead of the implementation of U.S. Section 338 levies. The Post's Paula Tran writes that exports to the U.S. jumped by 8.1 per cent in August while imports were down 2.5 per cent, according to Statistics Canada data published Tuesday. While the new tariffs weren't fully implemented until the end of August, Statistics Canada officials said U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement on July 22 may have influenced trade patterns and prompted American customers to stock up to avoid additional costs. The Section 338 tariffs targeted $27.6-billion worth in Canadian goods including auto, dairy and alcohol. Many items that were previously exempt from the Section 232 tariffs under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), such as plastics, furniture and electronics, were also now subject to 50-per-cent levies. "As expected, U.S. firms' front-running ahead of the Aug. 22 Section 338 tariffs was a contributor to the export gain," wrote Marc Ercolao, an economist with TD Economics, in a note.