On 16 April 2024, the 8th UK – U.S. SME Dialogue was held in Belfast, Northern Ireland with over 85 UK and U.S. small and medium-sized businesses and business organisations participating.

The Dialogue is convened by the Department for Business and Trade with the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the Department of Commerce, and the Small Business Administration. We were delighted to have the United States Special Envoy to Northern Ireland for Economic Affairs, Joseph Kennedy III, attend the Dialogue and speak about the importance of the UK-U.S. relationship and the special place Northern Ireland has in that partnership.

SMEs are the backbone of the UK-U.S. trading relationship, and the Dialogue reflects the ongoing commitment from both countries to supporting and enhancing UK – U.S. SME trade.

During the Dialogue, attendees discussed the opportunities for SMEs in the Creative Industries, Intellectual Property and how SMEs can harness digitalisation to expand their business and grasp the opportunities of the digital economy. Attendees also discussed the barriers that SMEs face in exporting and importing, including access to SME finance.

Northern Ireland has a unique trading position and is a story of energy, creativity and innovation leading the way in future technologies and creative industries, making it one of the most exciting areas to do trade in the UK.

We know that SMEs play a huge part in spurring local economies. That’s why, we are committed to working together to forge closer trade and investment ties with the U.S. and taking practical steps to enable our two countries to do business with each other more easily.

During the Dialogue, we announced the launch of the UK and U.S. Intellectual Property (IP) toolkits, which have been produced to inform UK and U.S. SMEs about protecting their IP within the other country and the tools available to help them.

UK IP Toolkit

U.S. IP Toolkit

Doing Business Toolkit: This toolkit contains advice, Top Tips and resources for SMEs looking to grow their business in the UK and export to exciting markets such as the U.S.

E-Commerce Toolkit: Advice for UK SMEs selling online to the U.S.