Butzel Long Law offices Downtown Detroit, once again hosted a fantastic reception Monday, January 9th, 2017. With over 100 attendees, it was one of our biggest yet offering outstanding network opportunities. We had several top executives and many representatives from UK Department for International Trade (previously UKTI) including Dan Rutstein from UKDIT on the West Coast.
We were fortunate enough to have Dan Rutstein speak about the strong relationships between the UK and USA on all aspects of Trade and Investment.
We were also thrilled to have Mike Hawes, CEO of SMMT, UK, speaking.
Mike discussed the importance of Detroit and NAIAS, reflection on the growth, success and positivity of the city and the sector
- Overview of Uk automotive – record year of sales, record year of production, investment from a number of regions
- Global nature of industry and challenges facing industry, notably environmental challenges, connected and autonomous vehicle development and “disrupters” and changing methods of production, use and ownership
- Current uncertainties – reference to President-elect, global uncertainties in many markets and, in the UK, Brexit
- Brexit – UK automotive still “open for business” as fundamentals are strong – innovation, high productivity, global outlook, growing sector with supportive Government. But we need to ensure:
- Continuing participation within single market
- No barriers to trade – tariff or otherwise
- Regulatory recognition
- Continued ability to recruit talent globally into our industry
- Continuation of trade opportunities with global markets including, and importantly, US.
- Hope that we can increase trade and connections for the future.
For more photos please Click Here. Thanks you to DBusiness', Patrick Gloria, for covering the event. www.dbusiness.com
