WAHPETON, N.D. – U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today toured WCCO Belting, Inc. to learn about the importance of trade to the business and the company’s ability to support jobs in North Dakota – and how tariffs and withdrawing from NAFTA would hurt their ability to compete.

WCCO specializes in custom rubber belting solutions for equipment in agriculture, construction, industrial, and recycling industries, and ships to over 20 countries, with Canada being their top international market. NAFTA is key to its ability to reach the Canadian market, making any disruption to the agreement potentially harmful to the business. WCCO employs about 200 workers in North Dakota and 60 in Texas.

“WCCO is a true North Dakota success story – a family business that exports its high quality products across the world, supporting the local community in Wahpeton and every farmer who relies on their equipment,” Heitkamp said. “With international trade so important to WCCO’s bottom line, we have to fight for smart trade policies that preserve markets and create new ones so businesses like WCCO can grow and hire more American workers. Tariffs and disruptions to NAFTA pose a real threat to WCCO’s ability to reach its’ customers and stay ahead of the competition. We need strong, fair trade policies that support North Dakota businesses and rural America, as well as the critical support that the Export-Import Bank – which I’ve long championed -- has provided WCCO in the past and can continue to provide to businesses across our state if Congress can finally get it fully functioning again.”

Jean Voorhees, WCCO Vice President of Business Development, said, “Exports are extremely important to our business. Canada is our largest export market, and NAFTA is critical to our continued success. New tariffs have the potential to directly affect both the export of our finished products and the import of some of our inputs. In addition, the harvest of soybeans is a major application for our products. If producers don’t have fair access to some of the biggest soybean markets in the world, the impact will ripple back to our bottom line. We certainly appreciate Senator Heitkamp’s visit and her willingness to discuss these issues with our team.”

Voorhees continued, “The people in this community are raised on the belief that anything is possible with hard work and a humble approach. Multiple generations of local families have built careers with WCCO Belting. We have personnel who started in entry level positions and developed their skills to earn technical and managerial roles. Our company will be 65 years old next April, we have and will continue to help this community and its citizens prosper.”

Over half of WCCO’s sales are to international customers, making trade an essential part of its business model.

Heitkamp toured the production floor and met with employees to learn more about the company and their unique manufacturing process. The company has consistently been ranked as one of the top 50 best places to work by Prairie Business Magazine. 

WCCO has benefited from Export-Import Bank financing, an example of the Bank’s ability to support businesses that create American jobs and keep rural communities strong. Heitkamp discussed her efforts to get the bank fully functioning again, including her recent push for the Senate to confirm four Export-Import Bank Board nominees, along with the nominee to be the Bank’s Inspector General. In 2015, Congress passed Heitkamp’s bipartisan legislation to get the Bank up and running so it could support American jobs and businesses as it has done for over 80 years.

Yesterday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross expressed support for reviving the Export-Import Bank as an important part of a strategy to help U.S. businesses compete with China.

After the administration announced new tariffs on aluminum and steel, Heitkamp warned of the potential for retaliation by our trading partners, which would hurt the ability of North Dakota farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers to export their products. Heitkamp has cosponsored bipartisan legislation introduced by Republican Arizona Senator Jeff Flake to nullify the aluminum and steel tariffs announced by the administration on March 8.

Heitkamp has been fighting to protect and expand markets for North Dakota goods, pushing the administration to back off damaging threats to withdrawal from NAFTA and speaking out against tariffs that would put the state’s economy at risk. She recently reiterated those concerns in a conversation with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer as she pressed him to protect North Dakota’s agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

Click here to read Heitkamp’s recent op-ed on why smart trade policies — not tariffs — are needed to support North Dakota farmers and ranchers.

Exports are a critical component of North Dakota’s farming, ranching, and manufacturing economy. For example:

• 60 percent of North Dakota’s exports to China are agricultural products, according the U.S. Department of Commerce.

• 71 percent of North Dakota soybeans go to Asia, primarily China, according to the North Dakota Soybean Growers Association. On the day the proposed Chinese tariffs were announced, there was a 40 cent drop in price, which would equate to a $99.4 million dollar loss to ND farmers. Or a loss of $16.60 per acre.

• North Dakota exports 95 percent of its corn, 88 percent of its beef, 86 percent of its pork, and 100 percent of its poultry to our NAFTA partners Canada and Mexico, according to a recent Farm Bureau report.

• North Dakota is in the top 10 most exposed states to new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, according to the Brookings Institution.

• North Dakota is home to over 17,000 workers employed in industries that are particularly dependent on production and consumption of steel and aluminum, according the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• 50 percent of North Dakota’s exports to the European Union are agricultural and construction.

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