Calgary-based companies achieved record international trade expansions in 2025 despite U.S. tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, which drove U.S. deals to an all-time low.
Sharp Drop in U.S. Trade Agreements
New data from Calgary Economic Development (CED) reveals that fewer than 25% of trade deals secured in 2025 involved the U.S., compared to 35% the previous year. This marks the smallest U.S. share on record for the city-owned organization.
Brad Parry, CED president, attributes the shift to tariffs and U.S. market uncertainty. “We’re still working with our U.S. partners, we’re never going to lose them as a key trading partner,” Parry states. “But I think it’s about making the pie bigger and finding other markets for our local companies to go in and sell their products and services.”
Global Expansion Delivers Major Gains
CED-supported firms clinched 45 trade deals across 21 countries on six continents, generating $60 million in revenue—a 500% year-over-year surge. Key sectors include clean energy, advanced manufacturing, agri-food, digital technologies, life sciences, and aerospace.
Most new trade flowed to Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Oceania. These efforts created 187 jobs through business expansions. “At the end of the day, it’s creating jobs back here,” Parry explains. “If they have more capacity and more clients, it means they need more production, which means they have to hire more people.”
Spotlight on Local Innovators
ZeroSound Systems, which deploys a patented digital platform to curb industrial noise near communities, targeted global markets early. Its technology serves U.S. oil and gas operations and Latin American utilities. With CED assistance, the firm established footholds in Australia and the UAE last year.
Founder and CEO Norm Bogner notes, “We are CUSMA-compliant, so these tariff elements haven’t impacted us yet, but we have to understand that they might.” He adds, “We are looking at other markets and were concurrently anyway.” Bogner highlights rapid growth in new regions due to “what’s going on down south.”
Casa Bonita Foods, a producer of corn tortilla chips, forged partnerships in Japan, Korea, Thailand, and Australia following a CED trade mission. Director Sergio Llerena states, “Once realizing that our neighbours became unreliable, we started looking elsewhere for new commercial partners.”
Accelerated Support for Diversification
CED’s Trade Accelerator Program (TAP), backed by the Government of Alberta, fueled much of this growth. The organization plans to expand services in 2026, enabling faster market entry amid economic changes.
