James Morrison

James W. Morrison, Ph.D.

President and CEO, Small Business Exporters Association of the United States

1156 15th Street NW Suite 1100 Washington, DC 20005-1755 USA

202-659-9320 Fax: 202-872-8543



James Morrison is the President and CEO of the Small Business Exporters Association of the United States, the nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit organization devoted exclusively to small and medium-size exporters. SBEA is also the International Trade Council of the National Small Business Association, and represents over 22,000 exporters.  Under Dr. Morrison, SBEA has focused on improving access to capital for smaller exporting companies, advancing government export promotion efforts, and strengthening the role of small business in U.S. trade policy.

In the trade finance area, Morrison coordinated closely with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a federal agency that assists equity investments in developing country markets, to bring about

OPIC’s Small and Medium Enterprise Finance Department and its recently launched OPIC Enterprise Development Network, a national network of loan originators with a $100 million lending facility. His recommendations led to several enhancements in the charter of the Export-Import Bank of the United States that Congress and the President approved in 2006, including the creation of a permanent Small Business Division at the Bank and a group of small business underwriters.

He also directed successful efforts to fund export finance specialists from the Small Business Administration that are assigned to U.S. Export Assistance Centers across the nation. Morrison was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to the District Export Council and was subsequently elected to the organization’s National Steering Committee and its Executive Committee. The nation’s 1500 DEC members advise the Commerce Department on export promotion policies.  SBEA also focuses on trade policy. Morrison serves on the Presidential Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiation, the most senior international trade policy advisory panel in the U.S. government. He was an advisor to the U.S. Trade Representative at the World Trade Organization Ministerial Meeting in Hong Kong, and recently met with Chinese trade and economic officials in Beijing on behalf of USTR. He is working with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) on the multinational “Action Plan for Removing Barriers to SME Access to International Markets.” Coordinating with key members of Congress, he helped launch the intergovernmental Working Group on Small and Mid-Size Businesses in International Trade. 

At the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), of which SBEA is a member, Morrison sits on the Trade Policy, Investment and Trade Finance Policy, and Monetary Policy panels that advise NAM’s Board.

He has been active in several coalitions to support trade agreements, including CAFTA-DR, Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Morocco, Oman, and Peru, and the proposed agreements with Columbia, Panama, and South Korea.

He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and his B.A. from the University of Southern California.

This Speaker's Events

Trade Forum: “Going Global: Accessing New Markets”

The panel will focus on emerging markets access and strategies for small businesses to tap into the global marketplace, including the collaborative technologies that can be valuable to any trade strategy.

Learn more about this event