Colin Robertson, the vice president of Canadian Global Affairs Institute expects the Joe Biden administration to revisit membership in the Comprehensive Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership as it moves deeper into its mandate. 
The National Pork Producers Council has identified lobbying for the United States to re-join the CPTP as one of its top priorities for this year. 
Robertson said the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an initiative of the Obama administration from which the U.S withdrew under Donald Trump after they completed negotiations.  
While no word yet as to their intentions of the Biden Administration toward the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the first focus will be on domestic recovery from COVID and the trade policy will be something they look at probably into year three or four. Much will depend on mid-term election results and if the Democrats remain in control of the House of Representatives and sustain their majority in the Senate. 
He isn’t looking for progress. The Biden administration would like to do for geostrategic reasons as much as the access it would give pork producers and other American agricultural interests. These interests would like the preferred access that Canada, Australia, and Mexico enjoy into that group of countries. 
“I think it will happen but I don’t think it’s going to happen right away because it’s low on the list of the Biden administration priorities.” 
He expects they’ll first do an interagency review and calculations leaning that way for geostrategic reasons to counter China. 
China is a member of one of the newest plurilateral trade agreements, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. 
“As it concerns Canada many of the provisions contained in the CPTPP are a part of the revised North American Free Trade Agreement.” 
After one month in office, Robertson said Canada-U.S. relations under the Joe Biden administration have returned to the regular order. 
“I think it’s a restoration to the regular order that we enjoyed with U.S. Presidents until Donald Trump, who was singular and America first policy.” 
Trudeau made the first call to congratulate Biden on his election. 
Robertson said although the flow of people across the Canada / U.S. border has dropped substantially and there is no tourism whatsoever, the truck traffic that carries food products into Canada from the United States and into the United States from Canada is moving back and forth. •
— By Harry Siemens