EURAFTA Skepticism II: Anyone looking for reasons to be skeptical about the success of a U.S.-European negotiating effort on free trade need only see remarks reportedly made thus far:
EU President Jose Manuel Barroso said, "[B]asic legislation on GMOs will not be part of the negotiations ... We will not negotiate changes that we do not want of the basic rules on either side, be it on hormones of GMOs ... [These trade talks] are not about compromising the health of consumers for commercial gains." EU Agriculture Minister Dacian Ciolos pointed to the successful negotiation of the beef hormone case with the U.S. (Washington caved to Brussel's non-science based position) and asserted that Europe's negotiators will need to protect sectors...
What You Need to Know Today: Cattle futures extended their sharp selloff Friday as weakening cash cattle prices, deteriorating feedlot profitability, and reduced packer demand continued to weigh on the market. The inability of futures to sustain a rally following last week's bullish Cattle on...
As predicted, the Federal Reserve held rates steady at the last meeting before the midterm elections, likely in part because of the election (see WPI 19 October and 22 September). The decision comes at the tail end of a midterm election cycle that has been marked by the two parties campaigning...
Key Takeaways: The tariff burden rose sharply in 2025 and 2026: the effective rate on imports in HTS Chapters 1–24 increased from 1.53 percent in 2024 to 6.11 percent in 2025, before averaging 5.68 percent in January–August 2026. Headline rates tell only part of the story: exemptio...
