Every state has international business and trade promotion services. The state also has overseas offices and representatives who help locate agents and distributors and who provide market research. Some foreign governments are assisting US companies with exports to their countries as a means of initiating business relationships. The Canadian Embassy has a trade and business development section to help American companies do business in Canada. A private foreign information provider is the World Trade Center Institute which has resources in all the World Trade Centers worldwide, provides seminars and workshops, and houses a World Trade Resource Center.
Many countries also have trade promotion offices, mainly located in New York.
Trade shows can be very effective and are an established way of doing business. Internet resources are Trade Show Central and Trade Show News Network .