UK and South Carolina State hold inaugural Working Group meeting
First South Carolina Working Group meeting under the UK – South Carolina trade MoU takes place in Columbia, SC
On Friday 16th June 2023, the UK and the State of South Carolina held the inaugural government to government working group under the auspices of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation and trade relations between the US state of South Carolina and the United Kingdom in Columbia, SC.
Consul General for the United Kingdom in Atlanta, Rachel Galloway, and Deputy Secretary of Commerce for the State of South Carolina, Ashely Teasdel, led the working group attended by officials from the respective governments. The discussion focused on improving cooperation and sharing best practice. This is in addition to exploring opportunities for increasing bilateral trade in the automotive, advanced manufacturing, life sciences sectors, and state procurement.
The UK and South Carolina have a strong trading relationship, with the state exporting £1.2 billion worth of goods to the UK and importing £1.3 billion worth of UK goods in 2022. Several UK companies have subsidiaries based in South Carolina including, Doncasters Trucast Inc, GKN Aerospace, and Sigmatex. UK companies employ over 12,000 South Carolinians in the state and almost 5000 jobs in the Palmetto state are supported by exports to the UK.
South Carolina and the UK agreed to facilitate further bilateral policy and research and development exchange ahead of a future session to be held in late 2023, which will involve representatives from industry as part of continued work to deliver for businesses in the UK and South Carolina.