GSP and the 21st Century The European Union has announced a revision to its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) that grants duty-free access for goods from poorer countries. In particular, they have criteria that can limit benefits from countries that are not serious about implementing international conventions on human rights, labor rights, the environment and good governance. The latter is important. The U.S. program excludes countries that are communist, unless they have a normalized trade agreement, countries with export restrictions that hurt other poor countries, and those that lack worker rights. The protection of intellectual property rights is discretionary. In short, there is opportunity to overhaul American GSP benefits in...
What You Need to Know Today: U.S. weather is getting more attention this week as conditions vary greatly across the western, central, and eastern corn belts, with the different regions battling dryness and too much rain simultaneously. The ProFarmer Crop Tour began today in Indiana and Nebrask...
Unlike the 2022 fertilizer shock, today’s disruption is rooted less in rerouted trade flows and more in damaged production capacity, raw material constraints and uncertain recovery timelines. That makes this a longer-duration risk for U.S. agricultural producers and retailers who must sec...
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.