Highlight Impact Of Seasonal Produce Imports On Southeastern Growers
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators David Perdue (R-GA) and Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) continue to fight for a level playing field for Georgia farmers. In a letter to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer, the Senators requested a broadening of USTR’s current Section 332 investigation to include the impact of seasonal cucumber and squash imports on Southeastern markets.
“Fruit and vegetable imports from Mexico continue to dramatically impact U.S. markets and threaten the future of domestic farm production of perishable produce,” wrote the Senators. “In the last twelve months, we have seen further growth in imports across several vegetable products.”
“Prices have followed supply, and growers are now reporting tumbling prices across the board for vegetables,” continued the Senators. “Prices are now well below U.S. production costs for several of these commodities and appear to correlate directly with increasing fall shipments from Mexico.”
“These market changes occur quickly and can make or break a grower’s season in a matter of days if import increases and the resulting price decreases coincide with harvest. For this reason, we urge you to consider requesting a Section 332 investigation for cucumbers and squash in order to determine the impact of these seasonal imports on Southeastern markets,” concluded the Senators.
Read the full letter here.