Moral-Based Trade II The European Parliament (EP) has passed a resolution calling for the inclusion of gender equality goals in free trade agreements. As WPI has noted in the past, the addition of labor and environmental obligations in trade agreements highlighted the risk of a slippery slope in adding externalities. Earlier, some EP members demanded that a trade agreement between the EU and India be conditioned on religious freedom. One opponent characterized such rules as colonialist. Indeed, many in Britain say that overly prescriptive rules from Brussels drove the Brexit decision. One can imagine how a gender requirement could work against the EU, which has three member states with restrictions on abortion, nine members disallowing fu...
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.
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...