WTO and Inclusion There is much frustration in Geneva over the policy gridlock at the WTO. The EU has proposed a set of three objectives for the institution:
trade policy and state intervention in support of industrial sectors (looking at you China and Biden’s IRA); trade and global environmental challenges; and trade and inclusiveness.
If trade is economic opportunism, then profit-seeking is inherently inclusive. With 164 nations represented, the WTO is diverse by design. This week’s announcement of new committee chairs results in six (46 percent) of the 13 leads being female ambassadors. The director general is an African female, and half of the deputy director generals are female. At the staff level...
What You Need to Know Today: Crude oil prices extended their rally today, supported by several developments, including escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure and growing concerns about supply disruptions. The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to remove 50 perc...
Key Takeaways: The agricultural trade surplus has become a sizable deficit: the balance swung from a $40.1 billion surplus in 2011 to a $40.7 billion deficit in 2025. Imports kept growing while exports lost momentum: between 2020 and 2025, agricultural imports increased 45 percent, compa...
USDA released its October Cattle on Feed report Friday, showing 11.4 million cattle in feedlots with capacity for 1,000 head or more, slightly below last year. September placements were the lowest for the month since records began in 1996, marking the third consecutive month of placements sett...
Total Red Meat & Poultry September 2026 total red meat and poultry stocks totaled 1.97 billion pounds, down 1.4 percent from August despite typically increasing 0.8 percent during the month, and were 1.5 percent below September 2025 levels. The decline pushed total inventories to a new five...