diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-tracing/src/export/BatchSpanProcessor.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-tracing/src/export/BatchSpanProcessor.ts
index 1292b2330d..bfccb6665c 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-tracing/src/export/BatchSpanProcessor.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-tracing/src/export/BatchSpanProcessor.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,11 @@
  */
 
 import { context, suppressInstrumentation } from '@opentelemetry/api';
-import { ExportResult, unrefTimer } from '@opentelemetry/core';
+import {
+  ExportResult,
+  globalErrorHandler,
+  unrefTimer,
+} from '@opentelemetry/core';
 import { Span } from '../Span';
 import { SpanProcessor } from '../SpanProcessor';
 import { BufferConfig } from '../types';
@@ -90,7 +94,9 @@ export class BatchSpanProcessor implements SpanProcessor {
     this._finishedSpans.push(span);
     this._maybeStartTimer();
     if (this._finishedSpans.length > this._bufferSize) {
-      this._flush();
+      this._flush().catch(e => {
+        globalErrorHandler(e);
+      });
     }
   }
 
@@ -108,7 +114,11 @@ export class BatchSpanProcessor implements SpanProcessor {
           if (result === ExportResult.SUCCESS) {
             resolve();
           } else {
-            reject(result);
+            reject(
+              new Error(
+                `BatchSpanProcessor: span export failed (status ${result})`
+              )
+            );
           }
         });
       });
@@ -119,7 +129,9 @@ export class BatchSpanProcessor implements SpanProcessor {
     if (this._timer !== undefined) return;
 
     this._timer = setTimeout(() => {
-      this._flush().catch();
+      this._flush().catch(e => {
+        globalErrorHandler(e);
+      });
     }, this._bufferTimeout);
     unrefTimer(this._timer);
   }
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-tracing/src/export/SimpleSpanProcessor.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-tracing/src/export/SimpleSpanProcessor.ts
index 9fa3937506..b915cbf39a 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-tracing/src/export/SimpleSpanProcessor.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-tracing/src/export/SimpleSpanProcessor.ts
@@ -15,10 +15,11 @@
  */
 
 import { context, suppressInstrumentation } from '@opentelemetry/api';
+import { ExportResult, globalErrorHandler } from '@opentelemetry/core';
 import { Span } from '../Span';
+import { SpanExporter } from './SpanExporter';
 import { SpanProcessor } from '../SpanProcessor';
 import { ReadableSpan } from './ReadableSpan';
-import { SpanExporter } from './SpanExporter';
 
 /**
  * An implementation of the {@link SpanProcessor} that converts the {@link Span}
@@ -47,7 +48,15 @@ export class SimpleSpanProcessor implements SpanProcessor {
 
     // prevent downstream exporter calls from generating spans
     context.with(suppressInstrumentation(context.active()), () => {
-      this._exporter.export([span], () => {});
+      this._exporter.export([span], result => {
+        if (result !== ExportResult.SUCCESS) {
+          globalErrorHandler(
+            new Error(
+              `SimpleSpanProcessor: span export failed (status ${result})`
+            )
+          );
+        }
+      });
     });
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-tracing/test/export/BatchSpanProcessor.test.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-tracing/test/export/BatchSpanProcessor.test.ts
index 4b0f659093..01ad030fc4 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-tracing/test/export/BatchSpanProcessor.test.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-tracing/test/export/BatchSpanProcessor.test.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,12 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import { AlwaysOnSampler, ExportResult } from '@opentelemetry/core';
+import {
+  AlwaysOnSampler,
+  ExportResult,
+  loggingErrorHandler,
+  setGlobalErrorHandler,
+} from '@opentelemetry/core';
 import * as assert from 'assert';
 import * as sinon from 'sinon';
 import {
@@ -199,7 +204,7 @@ describe('BatchSpanProcessor', () => {
       let processor: BatchSpanProcessor;
 
       beforeEach(() => {
-        processor = new BatchSpanProcessor(exporter);
+        processor = new BatchSpanProcessor(exporter, defaultBufferConfig);
         const span = createSampledSpan('test');
         processor.onStart(span);
         processor.onEnd(span);
@@ -228,6 +233,43 @@ describe('BatchSpanProcessor', () => {
           done();
         });
       });
+
+      it('should call globalErrorHandler when exporting fails', async () => {
+        const expectedError = new Error(
+          'BatchSpanProcessor: span export failed (status 1)'
+        );
+        sinon.stub(exporter, 'export').callsFake((_, callback) => {
+          setTimeout(() => {
+            callback(ExportResult.FAILED_NOT_RETRYABLE);
+          }, 0);
+        });
+
+        const errorHandlerSpy = sinon.spy();
+
+        setGlobalErrorHandler(errorHandlerSpy);
+
+        // Cause a flush by emitting more spans then the default buffer size
+        for (let i = 0; i < defaultBufferConfig.bufferSize; i++) {
+          const span = createSampledSpan('test');
+          processor.onStart(span);
+          processor.onEnd(span);
+        }
+
+        await new Promise(resolve => {
+          setTimeout(() => {
+            resolve();
+          }, 0);
+        });
+
+        assert.strictEqual(errorHandlerSpy.callCount, 1);
+
+        const [[error]] = errorHandlerSpy.args;
+
+        assert.deepStrictEqual(error, expectedError);
+
+        //reset global error handler
+        setGlobalErrorHandler(loggingErrorHandler());
+      });
     });
 
     describe('flushing spans with exporter triggering instrumentation', () => {
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-tracing/test/export/SimpleSpanProcessor.test.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-tracing/test/export/SimpleSpanProcessor.test.ts
index c62799428a..1289343013 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-tracing/test/export/SimpleSpanProcessor.test.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-tracing/test/export/SimpleSpanProcessor.test.ts
@@ -15,12 +15,18 @@
  */
 
 import * as assert from 'assert';
+import * as sinon from 'sinon';
 import {
   Span,
   BasicTracerProvider,
   InMemorySpanExporter,
   SimpleSpanProcessor,
 } from '../../src';
+import {
+  ExportResult,
+  setGlobalErrorHandler,
+  loggingErrorHandler,
+} from '@opentelemetry/core';
 import { SpanContext, SpanKind, TraceFlags, context } from '@opentelemetry/api';
 import { TestTracingSpanExporter } from './TestTracingSpanExporter';
 import { TestStackContextManager } from './TestStackContextManager';
@@ -82,6 +88,51 @@ describe('SimpleSpanProcessor', () => {
       await processor.shutdown();
       assert.strictEqual(exporter.getFinishedSpans().length, 0);
     });
+
+    it('should call globalErrorHandler when exporting fails', async () => {
+      const expectedError = new Error(
+        'SimpleSpanProcessor: span export failed (status 1)'
+      );
+      const processor = new SimpleSpanProcessor(exporter);
+      const spanContext: SpanContext = {
+        traceId: 'a3cda95b652f4a1592b449d5929fda1b',
+        spanId: '5e0c63257de34c92',
+        traceFlags: TraceFlags.NONE,
+      };
+      const span = new Span(
+        provider.getTracer('default'),
+        'span-name',
+        spanContext,
+        SpanKind.CLIENT
+      );
+
+      sinon.stub(exporter, 'export').callsFake((_, callback) => {
+        setTimeout(() => {
+          callback(ExportResult.FAILED_NOT_RETRYABLE);
+        }, 0);
+      });
+
+      const errorHandlerSpy = sinon.spy();
+
+      setGlobalErrorHandler(errorHandlerSpy);
+
+      processor.onEnd(span);
+
+      await new Promise(resolve => {
+        setTimeout(() => {
+          resolve();
+        }, 0);
+      });
+
+      assert.strictEqual(errorHandlerSpy.callCount, 1);
+
+      const [[error]] = errorHandlerSpy.args;
+
+      assert.deepStrictEqual(error, expectedError);
+
+      //reset global error handler
+      setGlobalErrorHandler(loggingErrorHandler());
+    });
   });
 
   describe('force flush', () => {