India’s Water India is still hoping to hold the Trump administration from removing it from eligibility for lower tariffs under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). The latest message from New Delhi is that the government is looking at increasing imports from the U.S. to reduce its trade surplus with America. The offer might pair up with President Trump’s view of trade but is unlikely to be sufficient for USTR Robert Lighthizer. In fact, he is looking at initiating a Section 301 investigation into all of India’s trade practices. Such a study will find India has as much or more “water” (the gap between the applied and WTO-bound rates) in its tariff schedule as any other country, and that its constant flu...
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.
Key Market Insights The broad market is locked in on this week’s Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing, but this is no longer just a trade summit. Increasingly, the meeting is becoming tied directly to Iran, energy security, and the growing global economic fallout from disruptions through the Strai...