What is the Deal Team initiative?
The purpose of the Deal Team Initiative is to support U.S. companies already pursuing deals abroad and to identify new deal prospects for interested U.S. companies. Embassy Deal Teams are an important tool in implementing commercial diplomacy and they already exist in many posts.
What is a Deal Team?
Deal Teams are working groups of interagency officers and staff at our overseas posts focused on helping U.S. companies do business in their markets. They normally include State and Commerce officers and locally employed staff. Deal Teams will typically also include representatives of other agencies resident at post with an economic or development mandate. These agencies usually include USAID, DFC, EXIM, USTDA, and USDA. Other agencies are sometimes also represented.
What is a “deal?”
The term “deal” refers to advancing the sale of U.S. products or services through exports, a primary function of our FCS and Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) offices overseas, and to investments by U.S. companies in foreign markets, primarily a focus of State, DFC, and others. Deals for both large companies and those for small- and medium-sized enterprises are encouraged.
What is the role of the DC Central Deal team?
The DC Central Deal Team (DCC) is a consultative body of the U.S. economic interagency in Washington, DC. It was created to mobilize the resources of the U.S. government to help U.S. companies win business abroad and to advance U.S. strategic commercial interests. It supports and facilitates the work of the Deal Teams at posts, coordinates among the participating U.S. government agencies to help assemble support packages to assist U.S. companies, identifies key economic sectors abroad in which to support involvement by U.S. companies, responds to strategic commercial challenges, and facilitates commercial discussions with allies.
What kind of assistance do Deal Teams provide?
U.S. government agencies have dozens of programs to support U.S. commercial interests overseas. Embassy Deal Teams raise awareness of these programs and coordinate their utilization. Deal Teams tap into the programs, resources and expertise of U.S. government agencies to help U.S. companies do business and advance U.S. strategic goals. Deal teams will provide preferred package solutions that include feasibility studies, technical assistance, financing, and trainings to support the most strategic and significant bids by U.S. companies.
At what stage in the process does the Deal Team get involved?
Deal Teams are involved in the entire business development process from deal origination, to deal transmitting to U.S. businesses, to helping these businesses successfully close on deals through advocacy.
Are Deal Teams already operational?
Many of our diplomatic posts already have deal teams. There are also active regional deal teams in South and Central Asia, East Asia Pacific, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
How do I contact the Deal Team program managers?
U.S. businesses can direct inquiries to the respective diplomatic post or reach out to DCDealTeam@state.gov.
How do Deal Teams relate to sectoral and regional U.S. government initiatives?
Deal Teams’ efforts are aligned with and complement U.S. government initiatives such as Growth in the Americas/America Crece and the Infrastructure Transaction and Assistance Network (ITAN). It is not the intent of this initiative to replace or duplicate the work already being done, but to improve results for U.S. companies through better U.S. government coordination.
Do Deal Teams support foreign companies doing business in the U.S.?
Attracting foreign investment into the United States is also an area of focus for Deal Teams at posts, led by the Commerce Department’s SelectUSA program.
Where can I find additional information on Deal Teams?
For more information on the Deal Team initiative, please visit: www.state.gov/deal-teams/