Canada reported a surplus of 526 million Canadian dollars (406.5 million U.S. dollars) in August, the first since December 2016, Statistics Canada announced Friday.

Statistics Canada attributed the surplus to unusual timed shutdowns of auto plants in the country, which helped cut imports by a greater rate than exports.

The country's exports in August fell 1.1 percent, the biggest decline since January, partly due to lower shipments of motor vehicles, and imports dropped 2.5 percent.

Canadian imports from the United States decreased by 1.3 percent to 32.4 billion Canadian dollars (25 billion U.S. dollars), mostly due to less imports of aircraft.

Its exports to the United States declined by 1.2 percent to 37.7 billion Canadian dollars (29.1 billion U.S. dollars), mainly due to less exports of passenger cars and light trucks.

As a result, Canada's trade surplus with the United States in August was essentially unchanged at 5.3 billion Canadian dollars (4.1 billion U.S. dollars).