For fifteen minutes on Thursday, the Iowa delegation led by Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds, Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey, Iowa Department of Economic Development Director Debi Durham and others spoke and answered reporter questions on a conference call about their trade mission to South Korea and China. Speaking in Beijing, the focus was on China and Iowa’s sister state of Hebei Province. The delegation is returning with a Memorandum of Understanding regarding trade, so something positive was accomplished. Blog for Iowa is appreciative of the Branstad Administration for making access to the call available to the general public.

If Iowa seeks trade with other nations, it must necessarily begin with who we know. Governor Branstad had traveled previously to China and the hosts in Hebei recalled that visit. Additionally, Iowa companies have been doing business in China for some time. Vermeer and Pioneer Hi-Bred were both on the itinerary, but Bandag, Hon Industries and others have had a substantial China footprint. The delegation came to the conference call within an hour of a reception with 100 people in attendance, all with Iowa connections. There was discussion of a Chinese visit to Iowa in the fall, and future trade missions. Without this type of work there would be less foreign trade growth.

Director Durham referred to the Chinese five year plan and said it is important to be knowledgeable of it, so Iowa could determine where we might fit in as a trading partner. There was a discussion about corn and soybeans, which many Iowans view as a key export commodity. While China is interested in buying soybeans, “China is seeking to be self-sufficient in grain.” One speaker said, “they were not excited about buying more corn, but didn’t say they wouldn’t.” Doesn’t sound like grain exports resulting from the trade mission would be sustainable, but China is such a large market that even in their quest for self-sufficiency, they could be a substantial buyer of Iowa field crops from time to time.

There was a discussion of biotechnology. “Pioneer 335 has
dramatically changed China’s farming,” said one speaker during the call.

In typical fashion for US investment in China, Pioneer Hi-Bred International entered into a partnership with Shandong Denghai Seeds Co. Ltd. Shandong Denghai holds a 51% stake in the company and  Pioneer 335 is known as “Xianyu No.335” in China. The company reports the product has a gross profit rate of 68%. According to the China Business Intelligence web site,

We can see that Xianyu No.335 has already become the key profit source of the company. However, as the ownership of Xianyu No.335 is in the hands of the joint venture company, so Shandong Denghai has to pay huge for the seed use right. Therefore, though the profit of the joint venture totaled CNY38 million in 2007, Shandong Denghai only got net profit of CNY7.24 million from it, still resulting in a rise of its profit in 2007 by 26.85% year on year.

A 68% gross margin, of which Pioneer keeps 81%, is a pretty good deal, maybe for both companies in the joint venture. Hebei Province can be expected to start looking more like Iowa.

What does this trade mission mean for progressives? It means more of the same Iowa companies sourcing additional labor and manufacturing in China. It means expansion of GMOs and monoculture in China. It means glomming onto a communist five year plan, looking for how we fit in, instead of developing our own plan for a sustainable economy and being a leader. It means more of the Branstad effect.