Georgia producers and agricultural industry leaders will testify in a virtual hearing on Thursday with the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office (USTR). The hearings will provide the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and United States Department of Agriculture an opportunity to hear from growers in Georgia about the urgent need for federal action regarding unfair trade, specifically with Mexican imports.
This is the second of two virtual hearings to be held. The first involved Florida growers and industry leaders on Aug. 13.
USTR, USDA, and DOC announced last month they would convene two virtual hearings at which officials from the federal agencies would hear from growers and industry leaders on how the Trump Administration can support these producers and redress any unfair harm.
Thursday’s virtual hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. EDT.
The hearing is open to the public, and a link to watch the hearing will be available on USTR’s website here on August 20.
The list of scheduled speakers include Congressmen Austin Scott (GA-08) and Buddy Carter (GA-01); Georgia Ag Commissioner Gary Black; Gerald Long, Georgia Farm Bureau Federation President; Charles Hall, Executive Director of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association; as well as various farmers, including Russ Goodman (Cogdell Berry Farm), Sam Watson (Chill C Farms) and Bill Brim (Lewis Taylor Farms, Inc.)
A full list of scheduled speakers can be found here.
For the full USTR press release, click here.