Donald Trump’s agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue was officially appointed this week.

Perdue, the son of a farmer and former governor of Georgia, was ratified by the Senate on a vote of 87 to 11. This is one of the last appointments in President Trump’s administration and the delay has put agricultural policy on hold since the start of the year.

Perdue is more pro-trade than President Trump. Within days of his inauguration, President Trump withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with Asian countries and New Zealand describing TPP as “a terrible deal”.

Trump and Perdue have previously clashed on trade and Perdue has called food a “noble thing” when it comes to trade policies. Perdue’s appointment looks set to restart the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and US. After stalling TPP, it had been widely expected that Trump would at least delay TTIP if not dismantle it in its entirety.

It is not just Perdue who favours trade deals in the Republican party. Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Paul Ryan has, in recent days, said “TTIP was good for global order”.

Meanwhile, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan will lead an EU delegation of business leaders to Canada on a three-day visit starting on Monday in Ottawa and continuing on Tuesday and Wednesday in Toronto. The Irish dairy industry will be represented by Ornua’s Roisin Hennerty. Niall Browne of Dawn Meats and Karen Coyle who heads Bord Bia’s North America office will also take part.