Trade Policy Confusion In its annual report to Congress yesterday on trade relations with China, USTR asserted that, “China has a poor record when it comes to complying with WTO rules” and suggested the Biden Administration is looking for a new strategy to address the Middle Kingdom’s unfair trade practices. As noted by others, the report offered no details on a new plan and, in the meantime, the U.S. will continue to talk to China and to allies. If China is not complying with the WTO, then the strategy ought to be filing dispute settlement cases. More accurate is to say that the WTO is ill-equipped to address state-led economies. Donald Trump understood this conundrum and took a more kinetic approach to China. Like Puti...
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...
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.