World Perspectives

Trade Policy Angles

One has to greatly sympathize with the conclusions reached by Copa-Cogeca, Europe's central farm organization, that the EU Commission's pursuit of a trade agreement with the so-called Mercosur "common market" is a loser. NEI Update While the National Export Initiative (NEI) did not achieve its goal of doubling U.S. exports in five years, the Obama administration deserves credit for: 1) launching it, 2) making reasonable progress with the effort, 3) admitting rather than spinning its shortcoming and 4) revising it (NEI/Next) to obtain future success. USDA has long been in an aggressive export posture, and so the NEI has mostly improved efforts on behalf of other sectors. The focus of NEI/Next on Latin America reflects its disconnect from a...

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U.S. grain transportation markets are slowly recovering from the shocks of bitter cold weather and low water levels on the Mississippi River System and from the surge in export demand. The latter is also causing strong rallies in ocean freight markets, particularly in the Atlantic basin. With g...

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From WPI Consulting

Weighing in on strategic realignment

WPI’s team was retained by the governing board of a U.S. industry organization to review a decision, reached by vote, to invest significant assets into the development and management of an export trading company. WPI’s team conducted a formal review of this decision and concluded that the current level of market saturation would limit the benefits of the investment. Based on WPI’s analysis and recommended actions, the board subsequently reversed its decision and undertook a strategic planning effort to identify more impactful investments. On behalf of numerous clients, WPI has not only assisted in identifying strategic paths but also advised their implementation.

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