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Big U.S. Presence At London Marine Tech Expo
TMA BlueTech's president, Michael Jones, opens TMA's booth at Oceanology International (OI) in London on March 13. Leader of the the MDCP-ITA project team supporting TMA, Industry & Analysis (I&A) specialist Victoria Yue, pictured at left, has been coordinating ITA's work with TMA. Other ITA-MDCP project team members pictured include, to viewer's right of Michael Jones, Emily Taneva Commercial Service (CS) Sofia, Berrin Erturk CS/Izmir, Turkey, and Maryanne Burke CS/Boston, who also serves as the Global Marine Tech Team leader.
Of the 316 exhibitors at OI from outside the United Kingdom over a quarter were U.S. firms. Many of the 80 U.S. exhibitors participated as part of the TMA BlueTech delegation. For OI, unlike many trade shows held outside the United States, American firms in significant numbers went abroad to engage potential customers in global markets.
Defining a Growing Industry
One challenge to U.S. firms has been defining what their industry is or how it fits with other industries. OI is promoted as "attracting visitors from a variety of industries, including oil & gas, marine renewables and maritime defence." Can these industries be included in the broader marine technology designation as its own industry? Should only portions of particular industries be also included? Which portions and which other industries should be included if any? ITA-MDCP project team member Juan Catril (CS/Santiago) researched relevant industry-definition questions as part of a temporary duty assignment with I&A's Trade Agreements Secretariat, led by Paul Morris.
In addtion to some big-picture insights into the industry, Juan's research allowed him to provide specific guidance for U.S. firms with questions about how to classify their products appropriately for export. This is the kind of preparation before a foreign trade show or mission that an ITA-MDCP project team can provide to greatly increase the likelihood that a U.S. firm will find new customers outside the United States.
More information about TMA Blue Tech's MDCP project.
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