Browsing by Subject "imports"

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    African Swine Fever-Soybean Meal Supply China Workshop – Workshop Summary and Supplemental Information
    (2019-07-10) Shurson, Gerald C; Urriola, Pedro E; van de Ligt, Jennifer LG; Sullivan, Polly L; Sundberg, Paul
    An African swine fever-Soybean meal supply chain workshop involving key industry stakeholders was conducted on July 10, 2019 on the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus. The objectives were to 1) identify and discuss the various segments and potential risk factors of the soy supply chain in North America, 2) identify and discuss potential prevention, mitigation, and product differentiation (country of origin) strategies for soy products used in the U.S. pork industry, and 3) identify research and education needs related to foreign animal viruses and soy products. The group identified potential risk factors for African swine fever virus introduction into the United States through imported soy products including 1) contamination during transport, 2) inadequate virus inactivation in soybean hulls during processing if contaminated, 3) imported organic soybean products used in fertilizers, and 4) risk of virus spreading through manure and other routes if introduced. Prevention, mitigation, and differentiation strategies were discussed and included 1) develop a diagnostic test to assess African swine fever virus in feed, 2) explore alternatives to inter-port shipment of soybean products among U.S. ports of entry, and 3) identify and educate importers about consequences of African swine fever virus introduction and suggest prevention and mitigation methods. Several research and education outcomes were identified including 1) improve data collection on country of origin for imported soy products, 2) write a report describing the soy supply chain including reasons for imports and benefits of exports, 3) conduct more research on survivability of the virus in different feed ingredient matrices that is reproducible, 4) determine whether the virus is present in feed ingredient supply chains, 5) determine the most accurate methods to assess virus survival, and 6) determine specific factors that cause the African swine fever virus to survive in soybean meal for extended periods of time.
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    Essays in International Trade
    (2023-07) Phillips, Paul
    This dissertation consists of three chapters, and contains analysis of trends in international trade along the spatial and dynamic dimensions. In the first chapter, I review recent papers relevant to my areas of study, and highlight some areas which I believe the recent literature to be overlooking. The second chapter uses a static trade model and 2018 data on a panel of 197 metropolitan statistical areas to estimate import penetration rates for cities across the U.S. Results from this chapter show that more densely populated metropolitan areas are more exposed to foreign imports than cities with a lower population density, but are not necessarily more adversely affected by an increase in tariffs because compared to more spread--out areas they have a greater ability to substitute locally made goods for imported goods. The third chapter is my job--market paper, and constructs a multi-sector dynamic general equilibrium model of trade between the United States and the rest of the world to investigate why the pandemic affected services trade more adversely than goods trade, in contrast to trade patterns during and after the 2008 financial crisis. Different parameters in the model represent the different channels through which trade would have reacted to the two downturns, and I calibrate these values to match trade and gross output data. I find that trade frictions play the biggest role in explaining services trade; decreasing costs of conducting trade in services helped prevent losses in services trade during the financial crisis, while increasing trade frictions decimated services trade during the pandemic. A decline in consumer preferences for goods drove the losses in goods trade during the financial crisis, while the absence of such a decline limited the losses in goods trade during the pandemic. A brief analysis of consumer welfare suggests that policymakers concerned about a pandemic-like situation should focus on reducing barriers to trade rather than stimulating demand.