USTR Downgraded The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative sits inside the Executive Office of the President. No different than other offices situated under the umbrella of the White House, it serves as both a lead and a coordinator amongst the various departments and agencies. Typically, departments or agencies publicly stating a new Administration policy first obtains acquiescence from the appropriate office within the Executive Office of the President. However, it looks like trade policy has gone rogue. For the second time in as many months, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has made a major trade policy pronouncement rather than USTR Katherine Tai. This time Yellen said Europe and Japan should negotiate trade deals with the U.S. to enab...
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...
From WPI Consulting
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.