Thread: Boosting Trade To Mexico Is Vital For Idaho

Our View: Boosting trade to Mexico is vital for Idaho

ELSEWHERE

READ SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 111
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

TRACKING TRADE
Idaho's exports, by the numbers:

$128.2 million: Total exports to Mexico in 2006, up 26 percent from 2005.

$731.6 million: Total 2006 exports to China, Idaho's No. 1 trade partner.

$3.7 billion: Idaho's total exports in 2006 - accounting, according to the state Department of Commerce, to more than 50,000 jobs.

$32.9 million. Potato flour exports to Mexico in 2006. Food and ag products comprise 63 percent of Idaho's exports to Mexico.

$18.3 million. Idaho's high-tech exports to Mexico in 2006, including $8.3 million worth of semiconductors. High-tech exports dropped 41 percent from 2005.
- Idaho Statesman
Edition Date: 04/18/08


Butch Otter's first trade mission attempted to break down barriers. A year ago, the newly elected governor led a delegation to Communist Cuba.
On Saturday, Otter leads representatives from 15 companies and organizations on a much more business-as-usual trip - a weeklong trade mission to Mexico.

This mission still sends an important message to would-be trading partners and to Idaho elected leaders. Despite the bitterness that continues to permeate the immigration debate, the economies of Idaho and Mexico are more closely tied than many of our politicians want to believe.

Idaho state government is - to put it charitably - of two minds regarding trade with Mexico:

Recently, the state's Agriculture and Commerce departments urged industries to participate in the Mexico trade mission, citing Idaho's established markets in Mexico. According to the state's invite, the North American Free Trade Agreement and its "favorable tariff treatment" makes Mexico an ideal trade partner.

At roughly the same time, state legislators passed a stridently worded joint memorial calling out Congress for neglecting what lawmakers called an illegal immigration "invasion." The memorial also says trade agreements such as NAFTA "are being used to nullify the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution." The memorial passed both houses; governors are not required to approve joint memorials.

The rhetoric aside - and a joint memorial, a non-binding letter to the federal government, represents nothing more than rhetoric - Idaho is building a thriving trade with Mexico. Exports to Mexico reached $128.2 million in 2006.

While representing barely 3 percent of Idaho's $3.7 billion export trade, Mexico has fundamentally different trade needs, increasing its importance. While high-tech comprises 72 percent of all Idaho global exports, high-tech accounts for only 14 percent of exports to Mexico. Instead, food and agriculture products make up the bulk of trade with Mexico; these food and ag exports nearly doubled in 2006. For Idaho ag, only Canada is a more lucrative trade partner.

The Mexico mission is projected to cost Idaho only $18,759, after the industry reps pay their own expenses and fees for taking part. This makes this trade mission an obvious call. If anything, it probably would have made more sense for Otter to lead his first gubernatorial mission to Mexico before leading a delegation to Cuba, which has been subject to a trade embargo for more than 40 years.

This week, Idaho is visiting one of its top international trade markets. Otter's trade delegation is trying to tap into a well-proven business model - landing new sales by building on established relationships. Despite what some xenophobic lawmakers would suggest, enhancing trade ties with Mexico is good business for Idaho.

"Our View" is the editorial position of the Idaho Statesman. It is an unsigned opinion expressing the consensus of the Statesman's editorial board. To comment on an editorial or suggest a topic, e-mail editorial@idahostatesman.com.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/editorial ... 55543.html

Anybody feeling like posting comments on this subject in this articale please feel free!!

Yeah, come on in the water's warm, or maybe I should say hot.

The cats are still fighting in this blog at the end of this article. If nothing else, it provides an interesting read.