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Wisconsin International Trade Team Offers Exporting Advice and Services
Wisconsin manufacturers have been quick to take advantage of export opportunities made possible by globalization. In 2006, they sold a record $17.2 billion worth of products to 202 countries and territories around the world and are on pace to top that in 2007, according to the Wisconsin International Trade Team. The state’s 15.1 percent rise in exports in 2006 outpaced the 14.7 percent national increase.
The Wisconsin International Trade Team, comprised of experts from the Department of Commerce and the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, provides a broad range of services to Wisconsin businesses already contributing to this growth or planning to begin exporting internationally. In addition to its Wisconsin-based staff, the Trade Team includes offices in Brazil, Canada, China, Europe, Mexico and other locations.
The industries leading Wisconsin’s export growth are industrial machinery—the state’s top export—and electrical machinery, medical and scientific instruments, transportation equipment, and paper and paperboard. Top destinations for these products are Canada, which accounts for 30 percent of Wisconsin exports, followed by Mexico, China, and Japan.
China is one of the fastest growing markets for Wisconsin exports. The state’s exports to that country increased by 48.1 percent in 2006, according to the Wisconsin Department of Commerce. In September, Governor Jim Doyle, Secretary of Commerce Mary Burke and Secretary of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Rod Nilsestuen led a trade mission to China and Japan. Almost 80 individuals representing 48 Wisconsin businesses, trade organizations, educational institutions and governmental agencies participated in the trip to strengthen existing relationships and form new ties with business and governmental leaders in that country. From September 12-19, the delegation met with distributors, potential customers, and business and government officials in Shanghai, Beijing, Harbin, and Ningbo. About half of the delegation first visited Tokyo during the U.S. Midwest-Japan Conference from September 7-11.
At an August pre-mission briefing held for participants at the Fluno Center for Executive Education, Governor Doyle said that questions raised in 2004 about the wisdom of the first State of Wisconsin trade mission to China were absent this time. “A great deal has changed,” he said, as people around the state “have begun to understand how we can have a good, strong economic relationship with China.” The briefing was sponsored by the Department of Commerce, the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, CIBER, the Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy (WAGE), and the Center for East Asian Studies.
Trade missions are one example of international promotions and market development services the Wisconsin International Trade Team offers to Wisconsin businesses. Other services include agent/distributor and client/end user searches, buyers’ missions, and trade show grants. The Trade Team also provides international business counseling and education services, including one-on-one consultations, exports seminars and a food export helpline, as well as a range of market research assistance. Some services are offered free of charge and others have varying fees.
More information about Wisconsin exports and about the Wisconsin International Trade Team is available at http://international.wi.gov/business.html. Companies may also contact the Trade Team at 1-800-462-5237 or by e-mail at international@wisconsin.gov.