Reading Time: 3 minutes New York | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump urged representatives from the rival oil and corn industries on Thursday to break a deadlock in talks over the future of the nation’s biofuels policy by accepting a deal involving reforms sought by both sides. Trump has arranged a series of talks between Big Corn and […] Read more
Trump pushes Big Corn, Big Oil to break biofuels deadlock
CBOT weekly outlook: Soy, corn traders shift gaze to U.S.
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — As February ends, attention is shifting from South America to the U.S. for traders at the Chicago Board of Trade. “We’re about to flip the calendar into March, when people start paying more attention to the conditions in the U.S.,” said Rich Feltes of RJ O’Brien in Chicago. Attention for the past […] Read more
Trump pushes for more talks after ‘no deal’ on biofuels
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump has asked for more talks between representatives of the oil and corn industries after a meeting on Tuesday failed to yield an agreement on how to help refiners cope with the country’s biofuels policy. Trump has called the talks between Big Corn and Big Oil amid rising concern in […] Read more
Amid fresh Trump tension, negotiators seek NAFTA progress
Reading Time: 3 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — U.S., Mexican and Canadian negotiators met on Monday seeking to narrow disagreements on how to overhaul the NAFTA trade deal despite renewed signs of tension between Mexico and U.S. President Donald Trump over his planned border wall. The trade teams began a seventh round of talks on Sunday aiming to […] Read more
Cruz urges U.S. biofuel policy revamp at rally for bankrupt refiner
Reading Time: 2 minutes Philadelphia | Reuters — Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas on Wednesday urged President Donald Trump’s administration to push for an overhaul of the nation’s biofuels policy, during a rally at a Pennsylvania oil refinery that blames its bankruptcy on the controversial regulation. “We need a federal government that stands up for workers, not against […] Read more
Final version of Trans-Pacific trade deal released
Reading Time: 3 minutes Wellington/Sydney | Reuters — The final version of a landmark deal aimed at cutting trade barriers in some of the Asia-Pacific’s fastest-growing economies was released on Wednesday, signalling the pact was a step closer to reality even without its star member the U.S. More than 20 provisions have been suspended or changed in the final […] Read more
WTO should prepare for life without U.S., ex-chief Lamy says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Geneva | Reuters — World Trade Organization countries need to prepare for a future without the United States as a member of the club, former WTO chief Pascal Lamy said on Monday. The U.S. has thrown the WTO into crisis by blocking the appointment of new judges, undermining its dispute settlement system just as it […] Read more
U.S. grain firms set up co-ops in tax law’s wake
Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. agricultural merchants are scrambling to register themselves as cooperatives after a blunder in the country’s new tax law gave farmers a tax break for selling grains to co-ops rather than private firms. Private crop handlers — including the “big four” merchants Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus — […] Read more
Canada to seek Mercosur trade pact amid NAFTA uncertainty
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — The Canadian government plans to open free trade talks with the four-nation Mercosur trading bloc in South America, an official said on Friday, at a time when the future of NAFTA is facing increasing uncertainty. Canada sends around 75 per cent of its goods exports to the U.S. and is looking […] Read more
Dairy farmers get no assurances on NAFTA
Reading Time: 2 minutes Dairy farmers are seeking assurances there would be no more access to Canada’s dairy market in a renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement — but Lawrence MacAulay, Canada’s minister of agriculture and agri-food, would not provide them. “Because of the NAFTA negotiations going on, we have to be careful what we say publicly,” MacAulay said […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
