State looks to expand outreach

Washington state opened a new foreign trade office in Beijing a year ago, giving it three offices in China and nine worldwide.

Even so, Lt. Gov. Brad Owen says Washington doesn't think big enough when it comes to international trade. He thinks an office in Latin America might make sense in the future.

And if he does lead a trade mission this fall, he thinks it could be to Turkey and even Israel.

"I think sometimes we put too much focus on China. I say the focus should be the world," Owen said recently in an interview about the 16 trade and cultural missions he has led overseas since taking office in 1997, including trips to China in 2002, 2005 and 2006. "There is expanding potential in places like Brazil."

Washington's nine trade offices are run with contracted services. Those in China are in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing. There are two in Japan, and one each in Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan and Germany, the latter also serving the United Kingdom and France.

Other states are busy on the trade front, too. Doug Farquhar, a program director in international trade at the National Conference of State Legislatures, said activity varies widely — with big states such as New York and Illinois surprisingly unwilling to do trade missions while states such as Idaho and Alabama have, like Washington, been aggressive.

Alabama leaders "made a conscious decision they needed to open up a few more markets. … The country they made an aggressive pitch to is India. I don't know of any other state that has an India office," Farquhar said. Conversely, California closed its 15 trade offices around the world at the height of post-Sept. 11, 2001, economic troubles, but has reopened some under Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who also has led successful trade missions to China.

Washington's efforts

In Washington, Owen, Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed and Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire have led numerous missions to China, Washington's No. 1 export market ahead of Japan and Canada. But their missions go beyond China — to such places as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India and Europe. Others have included Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, Peru, Philippines, Australia and New Zealand.

Owen, a Democrat, sees potential in places such as Israel, Turkey, and even Kenya and Uganda.

Reed said he has no plans for foreign travel this year, with an election to oversee, but says he might go back to India next year, where he's seen success.

Retiring state agriculture director Valoria Loveland says she hasn't talked to Gregoire about it yet, but her agency might suggest Russia as a next trip to tackle trade barriers.

Gregoire said she's likely to go to Canada in June, crediting past work with Canada for the state's new enhanced driver's license agreement that lets motorists prove citizenship and cross the border without a passport. But she also has an eye on the Paris Air Show in 2009 to advocate for Washington's growing number of aerospace suppliers, as well as China, both assuming she's re-elected.

Costs of expansion

Besides advocating for missions, Reed says the state Department of Community Trade and Economic Development could do more good if it received more funding from the Legislature. That could be used to help with export promotion and to keep track of the successes of missions led by him, Owen and Gregoire, he said.

"In the 21st century, Washington's future is international trade — period," Reed said.

Mark Calhoon, managing director for the international trade unit at CTED, said Washington's expenditures on trade-promotion activities are roughly equal to the average of what other states do, based upon a national survey by state trade offices. He said his office's budget is $2 million to $2.5 million a year, and Loveland said her office spends $985,000. Those costs include their agencies' shares of trade mission costs and the cost for operating trade offices overseas.

By contrast, Pennsylvania spends close to $20 million, Calhoon said. "You could argue that even though we are average, we could be looking at more resources, because we really have an opportunity to capitalize on our global position," Calhoon said. "We are on the map in a big way. There is a basketball analogy: We play much taller than we are."

But Loveland, a former Senate budget-writing chairwoman, said lawmakers always want to see results and ask why the money is needed, even if it gets results. And then, she said: "If you are doing so well," they ask, "why do we need to give you more money?"