Decoupling or Redirected There is much academic debate over whether U.S.- China trade has been decoupled, or merely redirected with Chinese goods diverted through other countries such as Mexico and Thailand. Part of the problem is using correlation to assume causation. Researchers at Penn State (NBER Working Paper 31922) conclude that it is more complex. There is some diversion but they found that comparative advantage is at play more than the tariffs that Washington imposed on China. They also found that capital intensive goods were more adversely impacted than more agile products, and that countries that have increased their exports to the U.S. have concurrently increased their sales to other countries. Meanwhile, China has begun...
What You Need to Know Today: There has already been a strong run of flash soybean sales announcements in recent weeks, but more than 1.4 MMT reported this morning is an exceptionally large single-day total with major implications for the market. If the sales to China and unknown destinations w...
On Friday, at 6:57 AM, President Donald Trump announced, via a social media post, a 90-day window during which up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef could be imported outside of tariff-rate quotas—a move aimed at bringing down costs for American consumers. This is the secon...
From WPI Consulting
Infrastructure investment due diligence
On behalf of a Canadian oilseed processer WPI's team provided market analysis, econometric modeling and financial due diligence in support of a $24 million-dollar investment in a Ukrainian crush plant. Consistent with WPI's findings, local production to supply the plant and the facility's output have expanded exponentially since the investment. WPI has conducted parallel work on behalf of U.S., South American and European clients, both private and public, in the agri-food space.