Last year a group of potential customers traveled 12 hours to the U.S. consulate in China to try to obtain a U.S. visa to visit Ten Square International Inc. in West Des Moines. After traveling the distance twice, carrying marriage certificates, real estate documents and other information that would prove that the buyers would not try to live permanently in the United States, the consulate still denied them visas. Meanwhile, they were able to travel to France to see another company’s agricultural equipment.

“Imagine if I told [a U.S. buyer] that they would have to go interview in Chicago and wait in line and had to prove they would come back to the United States,” said Kit Spangler, director of marketing and sales for Ten Square. “You’d probably go someplace else.”

Though these hassles are part of trading internationally, Iowa companies that have invested time and resources to reach a global market have seen great results.

Once companies decide to start exporting, said Allen Patch, director of the Iowa Export Assistance Center, “it’s quite common to see companies (have) 40 to 50 percent of total production go overseas.”

Iowa’s export rate has grown steadily over the past few years, aided by a weakening U.S. dollar and free trade agreements.

The value of products and services being exported grew at about the same rate as the national pace last year, increasing 14.46 percent compared with 14.68 percent nationally. Though Iowa ranked 30th in exports last year, with approximately $8.4 billion in overseas trade, when looking at the per capita export rate, said Peggy Kerr, international marketing manager for the Iowa Department of Economic Development, “our increases in exports usually exceed the U.S. average exports.”

This increase in exporting has boosted Iowa’s economy as well. According to a report released by the Business Roundtable, Iowa has slightly fewer than 350,000 jobs supported by international trade, which is about 18.1 percent of its total work force. Jobs at exporting plants pay 18 percent more than at non-exporting plants, and foreign-owned firms pay workers on average 32 percent more than locally owned firms.

“The companies that are globalized in terms of their market are generally companies that are very robust,” Patch said, with jobs and revenues that tend to be more stable than companies that focus only on the U.S. market.

Iowa is also strong in a range of industries, with top exports in machinery, vehicles other than railway, electrical machinery and meat, according to the IDED.

Patch sees opportunities for growth in biofuels, animal health and nutrition products, and high-technology products as well.

The overall growth in exports is primarily because of the dollar weakening relative to other currencies, Patch said. “When the value goes lower to other major currencies like the euro, it’s like an automatic discount on all U.S. products,” he said.

Ocean shipping rates are also lower than the historical average, Patch said, as ships are arriving from Asia full of freight and leaving at less than full capacity. However, for businesses located in Iowa, the major cost incurred is transporting their products to the coasts to be placed on those ships. “We pay a significant penalty to get the container to the East or West coasts,” he said. “That’s where we encounter somewhat of a challenge on the outbound freight side.”

If the dollar regains value, it may shift trading patterns slightly, Patch said, but overall he believes the trend toward globalization will continue to drive exports. An increase in free trade agreements and the low cost of communications will help support this trend.

Currently the United States has 15 free trade agreements; it recently concluded a free trade agreement with the Republic of Korea. These agreements are important, Patch said, because there already is heavy import traffic in the United States and being able to sell goods without a tax makes U.S. products more competitive in other markets.

The other issue is that many Iowa companies look at exporting in a reactive way, Patch said, choosing to focus their resources and marketing efforts on U.S. markets and seeing any sales abroad as an added bonus. However, Patch said, “at a certain stage in a company’s growth, they often make the decision, they see the opportunity in exporting and they dedicate resources to it.

“When you see it happen, it’s pretty amazing, because it’s not uncommon to see them double the size of their company.”

Des Moines-based Global Mixers experienced such growth when it decided to start exporting its volumetric concrete mixers abroad. “Export business probably has increased revenues by 25 percent,” said Chris Latham, the company’s chief finance officer, “and we anticipate it will probably get close to 40 percent in the next one to two years.”

Latham said not only has the weak dollar made it cheaper for Global Mixers’ international buyers to buy its products but through a policy with an international bank broker, its clients also can borrow in U.S. dollars, which “cuts their cost of interest significantly,” Latham said. As a result, business has been strong in England and Central America, and the company is expanding into Australia. It also is looking for dealers in China and Africa.

Not only has overseas trade increased Global Mixers’ revenues, but it also has provided stability. Though home building construction has been down in the United States, other countries continue to grow, Latham said. “You don’t see the same spikes,” he said. “We’re diversified a little more.”

Ten Square International’s business was founded on trade between the United States and China, and today most of its income comes from shipping its drilling, industrial and agricultural equipment to China.

“China has a lot of foreign exchange reserves now because of all their exports,” said Kit Spangler, director of marketing and sales. “They do have some resources to spend.” Representing several manufacturers, Ten Square has been especially successful in shipping agricultural machinery to China as more labor migrates from the countryside to work in factories, creating a need for more efficient farming.

Despite export growth, there are factors that have hindered greater overseas trade.

One of the biggest factors is that companies fear going global because they likely don’t understand the business rules and the cultures of other countries and fear that they will lose intellectual property due to different patent laws.

Global Mixers had a problem with the amount of time it took to ship its products abroad, which delayed getting paid, until it began working with a international banker.

Political issues also remain a problem, such as the one with Ten Square trying to get potential buyers to this country.

However, Patch said, “the pace of globalization has just been blistering. … Successful businesses will be very globalized.”