News Room

Sunderesh Heragu with OSU’s Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers tells Brownfield U.S. ag exports are north of 175 billion dollars but margins are tight and farmers are hesitating to invest in their operations. “Farmers are not willing to put a lot of capital in at this point because they want to adopt a wait-and-see approach, of course, they’ve been doing this for the past year, almost.”

There is much uncertainty with respect to global trade. While geopolitical factors, war, weather, and demographic shifts have an impact, the factor with the largest near-term and possibly long-term impact is the uncertainty caused by unilateral trade conditions imposed by the US since April 2025. Since then, trade policy has shifted rapidly. Most recently – on February 20, 2206 – the U.S. Supreme Court struck down most of the Trump administration’s tariffs. The administration swiftly announced a new set of tariffs under a new law provision and set it at 10% across the board with all countries. A day or so later, the administration raised it from 10% to 15%.

Detroit automakers are monitoring the conflict in Iran for potential impacts on Middle East operations and U.S. vehicle sales. Analysts predict a prolonged conflict could disrupt oil supplies and cause gasoline prices to soar, potentially increasing demand for electric vehicles. The primary threat to automakers is not direct sales in Iran, but potential supply chain disruptions and rising oil prices. INFORMS member Sunderesh Heragu lends his voice to the article.