Talking Trade Ep. 72 - Mark Rhoda-Reis, DATCP

Talking Trade

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.