CARDIFF — The United States and United Kingdom jointly convened the 10th United States-United Kingdom Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) Dialogue in Cardiff, Wales, hosted by the UK government. Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East Bryant Trick and Director of the UK Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST) Graham Floater opened the SME Dialogue, with additional remarks by Deputy Assistant Secretary Bradley McKinney, U.S. Commercial Service, International Trade Administration; Deputy BIST Director in Wales Tom Taylor; and Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs Jonathan Heimer of the U.S. Embassy in London.
Launched in 2018 under the Trump Administration, the U.S.-UK SME Dialogue is convened by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) with the UK BIST and the UK Embassy, alternating locations between the United States and the United Kingdom. The SME Dialogue brings together small business stakeholders on both sides, including U.S. Small Business Development Centers and District Export Councils, together with officials to discuss current issues impacting small business in U.S.-UK trade, and aims to foster increased bilateral trade opportunities for small businesses. Participants at the SME Dialogue focused on opportunities and obstacles for SME trade, SMEs and the future of manufacturing, strengthening SME innovation in digital and AI sectors, and U.S.-UK SME supply chains and investment. SBA provided U.S.-based support in preparation, logistics, and coordination.
The trade relationship between the U.S. and UK amounts to $162 billion in total goods trade and $1.8 trillion invested in each other’s economies as of 2025. Around ninety percent of U.S. exporters to the UK are small- and medium-sized firms, with just over 24,000 small businesses across the fifty states exporting $22.1 billion in goods to the United Kingdom in 2024.
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