PanaMAX (or mini) Prospects?

A bigger canal still faces competition from the Suez, rail by Bill Armbruster, blog anchor The Panama Canal will become a more viable option for trade between Asia and the eastern U.S. after the waterway’s expansion is completed in 2014, but I question whether it will...

Talking Trade with Colombia

Gauging the odds on an FTA, counting lost-opportunity costs In February, the Obama administration pledged to “intensify” talks with Colombia on the free trade agreement  initially negotiated by the US in 2006. Now Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana), who is leading a trade...

China’s Got Juice

The Chinese don’t drink much apple juice, they make it for US The latest issue of Amber Waves, the quarterly from the US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, spotlights China’s role as the world’s largest supplier of apple juice concentrate and the...

The Latin American Decade

LATAM may be on course for growth, but diversification is needed Writing in the Miami Herald earlier this month, Andres Oppenheimer asks whether 2011 will be the dawn of the “Latin American decade” – as a recent Standard & Poor’s webcast argues [you can access a...

Under Investigation?

Got a notice letter from the federal government? Get a lawyer. by Peter Quinter, guest columnist Every year, the numerous agencies of the US government send out letters to companies putting them on notice that the company is suspected of committing some serious...

Biofueled Ag Trade

USDA 10-year agricultural projections concede major role to ethanol and biodiesel The US Department of Agriculture just released its long-term forecast for the farm sector. USDA Agricultural Projections for 2011-20 cover sector indicators, commodities,  and trade. Key...

Type Casting?

Corn ethanol is cast as a culprit in rising food prices (again) A Financial Times report from the Commodity Markets Council annual meeting (this week in Palm Beach) notes that Dodd-Frank financial system reforms top the list of worries for the commodities futures...