US-UK Small & Medium Business Presentation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 29, 2022
Paducah, KY
 
EDINBURGH – Richard Grana, President of Impex (EMC) company, as a member of the US Delegation,
presented on November 29 at the 6 th US-UK Small and Medium-Sized (SME) Dialogue. Business
representatives from both sides of the Atlantic met to identify ways to expand bilateral trade and investment and to enhance broad and inclusive SME participation in that trade and investment.

The SME Dialogue is convened by the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the Department of
Commerce, the Small Business Administration with the UK Department for International Trade, and the UK
Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy.  On November 30, U.S. and UK government
officials convened government-to-government meetings to discuss and consider the useful input provided by the SME participants from the SME Dialogue.
 
Dan Mullaney, Assistant United States Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East, and Graham
Floater, Director of UK-US Trade at the UK Department for International Trade, opened the SME Dialogue. 
They were joined by Rosemary Gallant, Minister Counsellor, and Regional Senior Commercial Officer for the United Kingdom, Nordics and Ireland, U.S. Embassy London; Gabriel Esparza, Associate Administrator for International Trade, Small Business Administration; Emma Wade-Smith OBE, His Majesty’s Trade
Commissioner for North America and British Consul General in New York; and Rachel Gwyon, Director for
UK Nations and Agriculture, Food and Drink.
 
Participants at the SME Dialogue discussed an update on U.S.-UK trade; opportunities and obstacles for
SMEs are accessing U.S. and UK markets, including advances in paperless trading and customs and trade
facilitation; advancing women’s economic empowerment; best practices for exporting to the United States
and the United Kingdom; and resources for SME export assistance.  
 
Based on the input of SME stakeholders, the U.S. and UK agreed today to several actions over the next six
months.  First, the two governments will update and enhance toolkits targeted at helping SMEs navigate
trans-Atlantic trade, including export resources for women, minority and indigenous-owned SMEs, and
underserved communities.  Second, U.S. and UK government officials from the trade agencies will convene special expert-level discussions on digital trade and customs and trade facilitation to consider the input of small businesses and identify opportunities for deeper cooperation in these areas. Third, U.S. and UK officials agreed to continue their commitment to jointly engage trans-Atlantic small businesses by having the United States host the 7 th  SME Dialogue in the United States in May 2023.

Trade between the two countries is about $247 billion annually, and together there is around $1 trillion
invested in each other’s economies.  Ninety-two percent of U.S. exporters to the UK are small- and medium-sized firms, with nearly 36,000 small businesses across the fifty states exporting $23.2 billion in goods to the United Kingdom.

Contact: Cheryl Grana of Impex at 270.534.8344 or cgrana@me.com