World Perspectives

Eyes Open on India

USDA is leading a trade mission to India, noting that it is 1.4 billion people or 18 percent of the global population but accounts for less than one percent of U.S. agricultural exports. Average tariff rates tend to be higher in developing countries and lower in developed countries. But India’s average tariff is among the highest of its peer countries, and 5.5 times that of the U.S. or EU. More problematic is its high bound rates and tendency to frequently change the applied rate as a market management tool. India also has the highest number of nontariff trade barriers of the countries featured below.  Trade is very important to Canada and Australia, highly developed economies but with relatively smaller populations. The trade p...

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From WPI Consulting

Forecasting developments in production agriculture

On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.

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