John Weekes writes in Policy Magazine on why the top trade priority for Canada in 2021 must be building an effective working relationship with the incoming Biden Administration in Washington. John says the reasons are simple—the United States remains by far our most important bilateral partner and working with the U.S. will enhance the prospects for achieving Canada’s objectives for global trade reform.

John says that beyond the U.S., Canada needs to redouble its efforts to ensure Canadians can sell their goods and services into fast-growing markets in other parts of the world. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Europe and the CPTPP offer Canadians a chance to succeed in these markets because the United States does not have free trade agreements with these countries.

The Canadian government should also develop a long-term strategy for strengthening trade relations with China. China is simply too big to ignore. By some measures it already has the world’s largest economy and is growing at a much faster rate than any of our other partners.