Like all businesses that have chosen to locate in the Santa Clarita Valley (SCV), foreign companies are attracted by the region’s business-friendly approach, abundance of land, high quality of life, modern facilities and infrastructure, talented workforce and strong local economy. Additionally, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are ranked the top ports by cargo volume in North America. For SCV companies, easy proximity to the ports allows greater access to foreign trade and export relationships with companies overseas.
In 2018, total United States trade with foreign companies was $5.6 trillion, with $2.5 trillion in exports. The U.S. was the world’s third-largest exporter, after China and the European Union. There are many reasons U.S. companies should consider foreign trade including higher productivity, a stronger workforce, higher rates of growth and increased innovation. In addition, foreign trade extends and broadens the customer base.
With foreign direct investment and foreign trade becoming a key growth driver both at a national and regional level, the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corp., or SCVEDC, is mindful of opportunities that increase our profile on a global scale.
Last month, the SCVEDC and the U.S. Commercial Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce, hosted an event for local business leaders on doing business in China.
At the meeting, local business leaders engaged in a compelling discussion on a variety of topics including transparency issues in obtaining visas, tax laws relating to U.S. company representatives working in China, IP and trademark protection, and Internet access and VPN service access by non-Chinese companies. U.S. Commercial Service provided new insights into tools to support success of trading in China.
Of note is their new China Intellectual Property Rights Toolkit, which provides a starting point for developing an understanding of the challenges in protecting and enforcing IP in China, and a helpful resource for developing a China IP strategy. They also offer their Gold Key Service, a very cost-effective program providing U.S. companies matchmaking appointments with identified interested partners in foreign markets. Two meeting attendees provided very favorable commentary on usage of the Gold Key Service in China and success of these meetings.
If you’d like more information, contact the SCV EDC at (661) 288-4400 or [email protected]
