As has been widely reported, U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators are meeting in Washington this week to push toward some sort of agreement on trade before the 1 March deadline set by President Trump. Unless that deadline is extended, which is a good possibility, the U.S. is scheduled to increase tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent on $200 billion of Chinese imports. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, USTR Lighthizer and China’s Vice-Premier Liu He were to join the meetings today. Reportedly, Mr. Liu will meet with President Trump Friday afternoon, mirroring what he did during the previous round of negotiations in Washington. There appears to be considerable progress being made. It is reported that negotiators are drafting six Memorandums o...
What You Need to Know Today: Russia rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, including a proposal to halt attacks on civilian shipping that could help restore grain flows from Ukrainian ports. Tyson Foods announced plans to permanently close its Joslin, Illinois, beef processing facili...
The big news in the cattle markets yesterday was Tyson Foods’ move to close two more beef plants. One of them, the Joslin, Illinois, plant was shuttered immediately after the announcement. The other, in Eagle Mountain, Utah, is a case-ready plant that does not slaughter cattle. Tyson also...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday. In July, the CPI rose 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 3.4 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy, or the “core” infla...
From WPI Consulting
Accountability and a comprehensive approach to export programming
WPI’s team helped construct a strategic approach to develop, implement, and track promotional activities in 8 key regions across the globe for an agricultural export association. With continued progress measurement and strategic advisory services from WPI, the association has seen its ROI from investments in promotional programming increase by 44 percent over the past 5 years. Not only does this type of holistic approach to organizational strategy provide measurable results to track and analyze, it fosters top-down and bottom-up organizational accountability.