Sometimes, a trade war is good for business

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

The most effective people at work aren't working harder than everyone else. They're working smarter, inside better systems. Superhuman Go from the makers of Grammarly is the AI chat that works inside every tool you already use, always ready and already aware of what you're working on. It's a teammate whose only job is to help you be better at yours. With Go working with you, you can show off what you do best. See what Superhuman Go can do at superhuman.com. That's superhuman.com.

Kimberly Adams (0:31)

What's ahead for oil prices? As best we can guess.

From Marketplace in Washington, I'm Kimberly Adams. The twists and turns of the war in the Middle East make it difficult to forecast the future of oil prices. But this week, the US Energy Information Administration gave it a go. It released its short-term energy outlook on Wednesday. Marketplace's Nancy Marshall Genzer took a look.

Nancy Marshall-Genzer (0:54)

The US Energy Information Administration, or EIA, expects Benchmark Brent Crude will average around $90 a barrel for the second half of this year. That's almost 5% higher than the agency's last forecast. Eric Smith is associate director of the Tulane Energy Institute.

Eric Smith (1:13)

I think it's as accurate as you can be, but there's a lot of assumptions behind any oil price forecast.

Nancy Marshall-Genzer (1:19)

The EIA says part of the problem is global oil reserves have fallen by 400 million barrels so far this year. But the agency also forecasts that more oil will gradually start flowing through the Strait of Hormuz. Eugene Goltz focuses on national security and economic policy at the University of Notre Dame. He says shippers might be able to adjust to a new normal.

Eugene Goltz (1:43)

The cargo is so valuable that I expect more and more people to suck up the cost.

Nancy Marshall-Genzer (1:50)

Of their oil tankers occasionally being attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, Goltz says some oil-producing countries are using their own national tankers to shuttle oil out of the Strait and transfer it to other ships waiting safely outside. But Goltz says nobody really knows what will happen. He points to predictions from the end of last year.

Eugene Goltz (2:11)

No one was forecasting that there would be a war in Iran that would cause huge disruption, and so all the forecasts are wrong.

Nancy Marshall-Genzer (2:19)

Even the EIA notes that this report was finalized on September 3rd and, quote, does not specifically account for market events after that day. I'm Nancy Marshall-Genser for Marketplace.

SPEAKER_6 (2:58)

Running a business is hard enough, so why make it harder with a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other? Introducing Odoo, the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all-in-one, fully integrated platform that makes your work easier, from CRM, accounting, inventory, e-commerce, and more. And the best part, Odoo replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. This is why over thousands of businesses have made the switch. So why not you?

Try Odoo for free at odoo.com. That's odoo.com.

Kimberly Adams (3:30)

We're continuing to check in with businesses dealing with the fallout of tariffs. Today, it's one across the northern border into Canada. Haven Greens is a five-acre indoor farm located in King City, Ontario, about an hour and a half north of Toronto. I visited the farm a little more than a year ago, shortly after their very first harvest, and at the beginning of the US-Canada trade war. Today, I'm checking back in with founder and CEO, Jay Wilmott. Jay, it's good to reconnect.

Jay Wilmott (3:57)

Hey, Kimberly, thanks so much for having me back on the show.

Kimberly Adams (3:59)

So how has business been?

Jay Wilmott (4:01)

So we've been making great progress in the Canadian market. We're now in all five of what we call Canada's major retailers, so Loblaws, Soapy's Metro, Costco, and Walmart. We just launched our first shipments to Walmart yesterday.

And we also are now sending greens to the associated grocers of Western Canada.

Kimberly Adams (4:21)

For the benefit of our listeners here, can you just briefly share a bit more about what your business does?

Jay Wilmott (4:28)

Sure. So we operate Canada's first fully automated leafy greens greenhouse here in King City, Ontario.

So we operate a fully touchless, pesticide-free, advanced indoor growing facility. It's in a greenhouse. And we harvest fresh leafy greens for Canadians. And we do export a little bit to the US. 365 days a year.

Kimberly Adams (4:51)

When we last spoke, you said that the U.S.'s trade war with Canada, that was last year when the trade war was kicking off, that it was boosting your business because more Canadians were looking to buy Canadian rather than import lettuce from the United States, which people typically did. How have things been going since then?