A mathematical model applied to the United States soybean industry and its competitiveness

The primary objective of this research is to evaluate the impacts of alternative ocean and inland transportation systems in shipping soybeans from major exporting countries to major importing regions and countries on U.S. competitiveness of soybean exports and the world soybean trade.; The results show that a free trade would positively affect the total soybean quantities traded in the world soybean market. The United States receives the most benefit under free trade mainly because the export supply in the United States is much more elastic than that in Brazil and Argentina. Because price elasticities of import demand are inelastic, an increase in the quantity of soybeans traded in the word market is not significant under this scenario. The Panama Canal plays an important role in shipping soybeans from the Gulf ports to Asia. U.S. soybean exports through the Gulf ports are sensitive to changes in toll rates in the Panama Canal. However, the impacts of the toll rates on U.S. competitiveness is not significant mainly because the United States uses alternative shipping routes in shipping soybeans to Asian countries as toll rates increase. The changes in the toll rates affect imports in the East Asian countries more than those in the European Union.; Changes in rail and barge rates are sensitive to their modal share in shipping soybeans from producing regions to export ports. However, rail and barge rates have insignificant effects on the total quantity of soybeans traded in the world market. An improvement in the inland transportation system in Brazil and Argentina increases their market share in the world soybean market and affects U.S. soybean exports negatively.