World Perspectives

Wishful Thinking; Better Buyers than Sellers; Siloed Market

Wishful Thinking The EU is developing a new trade policy intended to rapidly respond to “coercive measures” by third countries, such as Donald Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs, or China’s recent squeeze on tiny Lithuania. The idea is that if foreign countries knew that Brussels could respond more quickly and harshly with its own punitive trade measures, it might prevent adverse actions by adversaries. Maybe. Europe counter-retaliated against Trump tariffs and that was anticipated. Making governance more responsive to fast-moving events is laudable but they must be overwhelmingly large, not comparable, to be preventative. That is why it will take collective western action to prevent Vladimir Putin from taking Ukrai...

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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.

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