News from inside the trade negotiations with China has generally been positive for about six months. Starting late last year (19 December 2018), the 1 January effective date of the U.S. tariff rate increases on Chinese goods was pushed back to 2 March to facilitate ongoing negotiations. From that time until 6 May, the administration repeatedly said that progress was steady, a deal was in the offing and that the U.S. tariffs imposed on China were working. At this point, that assertion about the effectiveness of tariffs is a highly unprovable proposition. Overall, China stopped importing U.S. goods at a higher rate through 2018 than the U.S. stopped importing Chinese goods. While the first quarter (Q1) 2019 trade deficit with China is way do...
What You Need to Know Today: Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva secured reelection on Sunday, defeating right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro despite trailing in the first round of voting. The surprise victory triggered a sharp selloff in Brazilian financial market...
The 2026 midterm elections are a week from tomorrow, but early voting has been taking place for weeks. At stake is control of Congress, including the House of Representatives, where all 435 seats are contested, and the Senate, where approximately one-third of the seats are up for election. Farm...
Key Takeaways: Total U.S. crop acres (excluding hay) are forecast to expand fractionally this year due to greater oilseed crop and winter wheat plantings. One of the key drivers of this year’s crop outlook is input costs, and crops with a lower cost profile have an advantage in producers...
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.