World Perspectives

A New Normal for U.S.-China Trade?

The modern U.S.-China trade relationship has always been strained. President George W. Bush addressed this challenge by bringing China into the WTO to force its compliance with global trading rules. However, that didn’t work. While two-way trade did grow significantly, so did China’s manipulation and disregard of WTO rules it didn’t like (including coercion on tech) along with the imposition of ad hoc non-tariff barriers on U.S. ag commodities. Over the decades, the latter have included beef, chicken, pork, corn, wheat, ethanol, and DDGS. Following that effort, President Obama focused on diplomacy and engagement, such as a bilateral investment treaty and the U.S.-China Economic and Strategic Dialogue. He also used i...

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USMCA Review Underway

U.S. trade officials have started the formal review process for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), inviting public comment ahead of next year's renegotiation of the pact. Under the process, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) will eventually be required to provide reports...

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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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