I Don’t Care That is likely President Trump’s attitude toward the WTO General Council’s castigation of his tariff war. Understandably, WTO members believe the complete flaunting of its rules by the U.S. undermines the entire organization. Both China and the EU want the U.S. named and shamed before the organization. Some of the espoused benefits of the WTO might be over the top, such as taking credit for trade liberalization and lifting millions out of poverty. The WTO allows high tariff barriers by poor countries and very few have ever claimed that they’ve grown so much wealthier they no longer need such protectionism. Nor is the WTO doing anything about the market distortions caused by China. The Trump Administratio...
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.
Key Market Insights The broad market is locked in on this week’s Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing, but this is no longer just a trade summit. Increasingly, the meeting is becoming tied directly to Iran, energy security, and the growing global economic fallout from disruptions through the Strai...