Trade mission nets $2B for MO companies

At least a half-dozen Springfield companies already export to South Korea or Taiwan, and the pool might get deeper with $1.9 billion in international trade agreements reached last month.

Springfield-area representatives were among a Show-Me State coalition led by Gov. Jay Nixon that visited South Korea and Taiwan March 15–22 to expand the reach of Missouri businesses.

“It wasn’t by accident that we went to these countries,” said Chris Pieper, acting director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

“More exports means more jobs for Missourians back at home.”

The agreements pave the way for Missouri companies to sell goods to consumers in the two countries during the next four years.

In Seoul, South Korea, DED officials signed $1.2 billion in agreements with the Korea International Trade Association and the Korea-U.S. Economic Council, as well as with the Korea Importers Association and the Korea Small & Medium Business Corp.

In Taipei, Taiwan, the Missouri Department of Agriculture signed a $200 million agreement with the Taiwan Feed Industry Association, and the DED signed a cooperative deal valued at $500 million with the Taiwan External Trade Development Council. The agreements represent a framework for trade, and do not involve increasing trade among specific companies, Pieper said.

Pieper said companies such as Central States Industrial, Paul Mueller Co., Tracker Marine, Halloway America, International Division Inc. and Custom Metalcraft already tap into those markets.

He said the state deals and a federal trade agreement with South Korea that went into effect in March 2012 could reduce barriers for more local companies to export.

“Basically, it is phasing out tariffs on a whole host of products, both agricultural and manufacturing products, and that’s opening up huge opportunities,” Pieper said.

Daniel Crooks, vice president of Springfield-based International Division Inc., which produces poultry raising facilities for large and small-scale commercial farmers worldwide, works with an office in Malaysia that has recently sold equipment to a dealer in South Korea.

The shipment of chicken transport crates, which were produced in Malaysia and will sell overseas in the $20 to $30 range, netted the company $18,000. Crooks said he is pleased to hear about the trade mission and the falling tariffs, but he cautioned the market in that area is competitive with nearby manufacturers in China.  

“We haven’t sold to South Korea in a long time, so we are hoping to sell some more product there,” Crooks said, adding the company had sold to a distributor in the country for a time in the 1990s.

Missouri Sen. Jay Wasson, R-Nixa, said such companies as Nixa manufacturer Diversified Plastics Corp., which sells products to South Korean automobile companies Kia and Hyundai, could benefit from the state’s enhanced relationship.

Wasson was among the delegates who met with public officials and business representatives during the mission. He said their itinerary was full each day, often working from around 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

“I think it was important for them to see somebody who did want to do business with them. Obviously, with $1.9 billion [in agreements], I think it was a fairly productive trip,” Wasson said.

Another local delegate, Rep. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, said ranchers in the Springfield area could have a chance to sell Missouri beef in Taiwan and South Korea.

“We do some trade through the Department of Economic Development and the Department of Agriculture with both of these countries currently, and I can tell you that it was meaningful to not only all of the trade officials that we met with, but also the political figures, that we took the time to come over and continue building relationships,” said Hough, who is a cattle rancher in Greene County. “Both of those markets have huge, emerging middle-class populations expanding their dietary needs and wants and are purchasing more high-quality cuts of meat – not as much poultry, not as much pork, but beef.”

South Korea is the state’s fourth largest trading partner, Pieper said, built on a relationship that dates back to the 1950s when Independence-native Harry S. Truman formed a coalition in support of South Korea in the Korean War. Taiwan is the state’s 24th largest trading partner, but the country is a big importer of Missouri agricultural products. Pieper said corn and soybean growers also could benefit from the trade agreements.

While the state’s trade mission is good news to InDiv’s Crooks, he is more impressed by a newly inked U.S./Columbia Trade Promotion Agreement.

“We’ve had an operation in Colombia for many years,” Crooks said, adding that this month the company has sent a 40-foot shipping vessel full of poultry equipment to the South American country. “We’re doing quite well there.”

Pieper said DED members are now working with Missouri companies to break into international markets.

“The big guys, the Boeings and Monsantos, have whole divisions dedicated to selling more goods overseas,” Pieper said.

“We don’t add as much value there, but for small businesses looking at growing sales in Korea, they may not know where to start.”