diff --git a/exporter/opentelemetry-exporter-otlp-proto-grpc/src/opentelemetry/exporter/otlp/proto/grpc/metric_exporter/__init__.py b/exporter/opentelemetry-exporter-otlp-proto-grpc/src/opentelemetry/exporter/otlp/proto/grpc/metric_exporter/__init__.py
index fb316ab2e8f..fce7129a326 100644
--- a/exporter/opentelemetry-exporter-otlp-proto-grpc/src/opentelemetry/exporter/otlp/proto/grpc/metric_exporter/__init__.py
+++ b/exporter/opentelemetry-exporter-otlp-proto-grpc/src/opentelemetry/exporter/otlp/proto/grpc/metric_exporter/__init__.py
@@ -210,3 +210,6 @@ def shutdown(self, timeout_millis: float = 30_000, **kwargs) -> None:
     @property
     def _exporting(self) -> str:
         return "metrics"
+
+    def force_flush(self, timeout_millis: float = 10_000) -> bool:
+        return True
diff --git a/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/metrics/_internal/export/__init__.py b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/metrics/_internal/export/__init__.py
index 8ed5596c81a..45992c82091 100644
--- a/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/metrics/_internal/export/__init__.py
+++ b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/metrics/_internal/export/__init__.py
@@ -85,6 +85,13 @@ def export(
             The result of the export
         """
 
+    @abstractmethod
+    def force_flush(self, timeout_millis: float = 10_000) -> bool:
+        """
+        Ensure that export of any metrics currently received by the exporter
+        are completed as soon as possible.
+        """
+
     @abstractmethod
     def shutdown(self, timeout_millis: float = 30_000, **kwargs) -> None:
         """Shuts down the exporter.
@@ -125,6 +132,9 @@ def export(
     def shutdown(self, timeout_millis: float = 30_000, **kwargs) -> None:
         pass
 
+    def force_flush(self, timeout_millis: float = 10_000) -> bool:
+        return True
+
 
 class MetricReader(ABC):
     """