Talking Trade

In the latest edition of “Talking Trade,” City of Superior Planning, Economic Development & Port Director Jason Serck discusses upcoming projects at the port and broader economic trends. 

Serck, who is also president of the Wisconsin Commercial Ports Association, shares insights on commodities moving through the port, ranging from stone, coal and clay to grains and more. 

“Pretty robust here, and a good diversity of moving product and actually importing product as well,” he said. 

He also outlines a $23 million port development project overhauling a C. Reiss Company dock at the port, which received $8.3 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration as well as state dollars from the state Department of Transportation’s Harbor Assistance Program. 

“It’s a win-win,” he said. “It kicked off in August ahead of schedule because the winter has been very, very favorable. And I think they’re hoping to push a little bit of product through there starting this summer.” 

The podcast also spotlights a major project to replace the aging Blatnik Bridge, which was the subject of a visit from President Joe Biden to Superior earlier this year. 

“It’ll be, by the time we’re done with it, probably a considerable little over $2 billion project, which is huge for our area,” he said. “Putting a lot of people to work.” 

In the latest edition of “Talking Trade,” Jackie Bojor of the FRD Center in Bucharest, Romania, discusses opportunities in the region for Midwest companies. 

Bojor is the director of business development for the Factor Regional Development Center’s Bucharest location. The advisory firm offers consulting, market research and other services focused on entering new markets and mergers and acquisitions. 

She notes Romania is seeing more activity from American businesses and specialists in clean energy, pointing to investments in small nuclear modular reactor development from an Oregon company called NuScale Power. 

“As U.S. officials have recognized recently, Romania is a regional pillar of stability, energy security and economic development,” Bojor said, adding the country has a “very strong” industrial manufacturing sector that continues to grow. 

American-made vehicles, aircraft, electrical machinery and equipment are among the most in-demand products in the Romanian market, she explained. 

She also said Romania is looking to advance its agricultural industries with more digital technology. 

“In terms of transport and infrastructure, there are billions of euros to be received from the European Union, and this will generate a lot of interest from foreign investors, from foreign manufacturers looking to expand their businesses into Romania,” she said. 

The discussion also touches on potential stability concerns among U.S. companies related to Romania’s proximity to the war in Ukraine. Bojor says Romania is “quite safe” in terms of conflict exposure, noting the eastern European country has been a part of NATO for decades. 

“Practically, we have very strong facilities and a strong presence of NATO members here,” she said. “This is a stable economy, a stable country, and we have seen actually quite a lot of interest from companies which had their operations in the past in Ukraine and also in Russia.” 

In the latest edition of “Talking Trade,” Matt Umhoefer of the state Department of Transportation discusses Wisconsin’s freight plan and federal infrastructure funding. 

Umhoefer, the economic development section chief for the agency, notes the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law added new items for states to add to their existing freight plans. He discusses the latest iteration of the plan and shares details on the state agency’s future work on that effort. 

He notes the law will help fund improvements to roads and bridges, upgrades to airports and maritime ports, expansions to public transit and passenger rail, and more. 

“That phrase, generational investment, I think really does hold true in this case,” Umhoefer said. 

Meanwhile, show host Sandi Siegel, president and managing director of M.E. Dey & Co., highlights some of the challenges facing supply chains. 

“For years we’ve been hearing how the infrastructure hasn’t kept up with all the extra trucks and deliveries and so forth on the road, and certainly the trucking industry seems to have had the perfect storm,” she said. “Not only with more demand, but a continuing trend of driver shortages and drivers aging out.” 

Umhoefer highlights various elements of the freight plan, including those focused on trucking, rail safety, riverways and more. 

In the latest edition of “Talking Trade,” Mark Rhoda-Reis of DATCP shares insights on the latest agricultural export trends and more. 

Rhoda-Reis, director of the agency’s International Agribusiness Center, says Wisconsin ag export activity in 2023 was down from the prior standout year. 

“2022 was a record year for the U.S. and for Wisconsin,” he said. “For Wisconsin it was $4.22 billion, largest on record. And whenever you go to those kinds of peaks, oftentimes it’s difficult to maintain that really high level.” 

Still, state ag exports hit $3.87 billion last year — the third largest annual total on record, he noted. And Wisconsin’s ranking for this measure improved from 13th in 2022 to 11th in 2023. 

The discussion touches on the state’s production of meats, sauces, cheese and other food products, as well as how global trends have impacted the trade relationship with Mexico, Wisconsin’s second-largest export destination in 2023. 

Rhoda-Reis notes U.S. tariffs and the COVID-19 pandemic created major economic difficulties for Mexico, with these challenges hitting the country harder than other parts of the world. 

“As we’ve seen, they’ve started climbing back out of that,” he said. “I think some of it too is from that re-shoring that’s happening, a lot of that business that’s coming back from Asia, from China, back into Mexico.” 

“Talking Trade” is available in audio form on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Subscribe and find more episodes here.

In the latest episode of “Talking Trade,” Director General Dennis Yen-Feng Lei of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago discusses U.S.-Taiwan trade relations. 

Lei focuses on trade relationships between Taiwan and Midwest states in particular, noting the country recently signed economic agreements with leaders in Michigan and Indiana, as well as educational memorandums of understanding with Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Minnesota. 

“We have a very promising future, our office is trying to increase more Taiwanese companies here, and also ask more American companies to invest in Taiwan,” he said. 

Bilateral trade between the United States and Taiwan reached $135.6 billion in 2022, marking an annual increase of 19%, according to figures provided by the Lei’s office in Chicago. Meanwhile, U.S. imports of integrated circuits from Taiwan increased by 50.6% in 2022, for an increase of $2.7 billion.

Taiwan is the 9th largest trading partner for the U.S., and the 8th largest source of imports to the United States, Lei noted. 

The interview was recorded before the recent elections in Taiwan, in which Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate and current Vice President Lai Ching-te was chosen to lead the country. 

In the latest edition of “Talking Trade,” former U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic Rick Graber discusses the political landscape around the Russia-Ukraine war and how the conflict is affecting European economies. 

Graber, the former state Republican Party chair and current leader of the Bradley Foundation, says he differs from other Republicans who question why the United States is getting involved by providing aid to Ukraine. 

“I think there is a legitimate American interest, and I think the United States and the Biden Administration should have stepped up sooner, more quickly and more aggressively than they did,” he said. 

As the situation currently stands, Graber said there’s little reason for optimism about Ukraine. 

“This is going to be, has been and will be a long, long slog,” he said. 

Still, when the conflict does get resolved eventually, a “massive reconstruction effort” will be required to rebuild Ukraine, Graber said. He described it as an opportunity for Europe and the United States, though he said China is keeping an eye out for opportunities in the region as well. 

“In the meantime, the economies of central Europe … are going to have to adjust without much input from Ukraine, I’m afraid, as the country continues to get pummeled,” he said. 

Graber also weighs in on how President Biden and former President Trump have been dealing with China through tariffs and other economic tactics. 

“I am not, in general, a big fan of tariffs,” he said. “I think you’ve got to let the free market operate … I would hope that [tariffs] would be a temporary weapon. By the same token, the Chinese haven’t been playing by the rules. If they’re stealing intellectual property — which they do — that’s not acceptable either.” 

In the latest edition of “Talking Trade,” Djaagou-A Export founder and CEO Ognadon “Eddy” Djagou discusses his food and beverage business and U.S.-Africa trade. 

Djagou launched the company in 2017, and since then has been exporting agricultural products from the United States to African countries, with a focus on West Africa. 

“Right now, we are just working with three to five countries,” he said. “So our goal for the next five years is to extend, is to move to another country, is to, you know, have a new relationship in a new country. 

Djagou says many American companies don’t have that same level of access. But he notes the average person on the continent is relatively young and African markets are expanding rapidly. 

“There is a lot of opportunity in Africa,” he said. 

In the latest episode of “Talking Trade,” outgoing MMAC President Tim Sheehy discusses his 31-year tenure with the Milwaukee chamber and the importance of business exports. 

The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce in October announced former Republican state Sen. Dale Kooyenga of Brookfield will take over as the group’s president early next year. 

Sheehy said one of his most important accomplishments while leading the MMAC has been helping more Wisconsin governors and mayors to understand the competitive global environment for corporate investment, as well as related opportunities. 

“One of the things I’ve learned from the countless trade missions that I’ve been on to Canada, South America, Mexico, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, is that every day those regions are getting up and competing for capital investment and jobs,” Sheehy said. 

He also touts the strength of Wisconsin’s workforce and talent pool, noting it helps attract investments by large manufacturers such as Haribo, which has a large production facility in Pleasant Prairie. And he touches on international transportation infrastructure development in the state as well. 

“Something like 86% of the companies in Wisconsin that export are small or mid-sized companies, maybe exporting to one or two markets primarily, but as they start to expand, they need the service providers here that have that expertise to help them do that along with the physical infrastructure,” he said. 

Given the global uncertainty linked to conflicts in the Middle East and tensions between China and Taiwan, Sheehy said some businesses are turning inward to focus on domestic markets rather than opportunities overseas. 

“I think that’s a mistake,” he said. “And so, I think the message I would leave is, it’s a tough world out there, but buckle up and go at it and you’re going to be better for it.” 

In the latest episode of “Talking Trade,” Rapport International owner Wendy Pease shares insights on the translation and interpretation industry. 

The business offers written translation, spoken interpretations and other communications services for businesses, helping its customers to reach international markets. Pease discusses how technologies such as Google Translate have influenced this work. 

“When that first came out, we said ‘Oh, is Google Translate going to put us out of business?’ And it hasn’t,” she said. “It’s actually raised the demand for good translation, because now people understand that you can communicate across languages, and that there’s a way to do it appropriately.” 

Pease also comments on the impacts of AI on this field, noting it functions better than Google Translate when applied to certain topics. But she added “you don’t know which one’s going to be better, so you can’t consistently use one” of these services over the other. 

“What I’ve heard [from] the experts, the analysts that are really deep-diving into the different technologies that are out there, is that we still need humans involved,” she said. “And it’s getting harder and harder to judge the quality, because there are some companies that will say ‘human-involved’ translation.” 

That means the service is using machine learning for translation, and then having a person review it. But if those reviewers lack subject matter expertise, mistakes could “slide by,” Pease said. 

In the latest episode of “Talking Trade,” Asian Insiders Partner Primadi Soerjosoemanto shares insights on business opportunities in Indonesia. 

As the world’s fourth most populous country, Indonesia has a growing economy that’s attracting investment from many global companies, Soerjosoemanto explained. 

He said policies advanced by the country’s government have drawn investment from around the world. As examples, he pointed to a recent law that allows more foreigners to work and live in Indonesia, as well as a new work permit for entrepreneurs. 

“For the past 10 years, the development is growing and you know, it’s easier to do business now,” he said. 

Soerjosoemanto said opportunities abound for U.S. companies looking to reach Indonesian markets, noting the country already imports soybeans and milk from the United States. He added more high-value goods are being manufactured in Indonesia as part of international supply chains.