U.S. rice producers face a number of challenges in the global market, not the least of which come from tariffs and other import restrictions imposed by foreign governments, according to a report compiled by the U.S. International Trade Commission.

The next in the series of University of Arkansas Food and Agribusiness Webinars will present a discussion of the USITC’s investigation of the “Global Competitiveness of the U.S. Rice Industry” by three of the report’s authors.

To register for the webinar, which will begin at 11 a.m. on Oct. 7, visit https://uaex.zoom.us/webinar/register/3dea358b06d7fc0bc5b9141539e44ee6.

“Major factors affecting competitiveness, such as cost structures, level of product quality, and status as reliable suppliers will be discussed for the United States and other major rice producing and trading countries,” says Dr. Bobby Coats, professor of economics and agribusiness at the university and moderator of the webinar series.

Presenters will be John Giamalva, Marin Weaver, and Lesley Ahmed, international trade analysts at the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington.

John Giamalva was a project leader for the Commission report on the global competitive of U.S. rice. Previously, he worked in the Applied Economics Division at the Commission as an economist assigned to various antidumping and countervailing duty investigations and was detailed as an aide to Commissioner Koplan for three years.

Before coming to work at the Commission, John was employed as a research Associate at the University of Arkansas conducting research on consumer willingness to pay for food safety. John is a graduate of Louisiana State University and the University of Arkansas.

Marin Weaver was a project leader for the Commission report on global competitiveness of the rice industry and has also worked at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative as the director for the Generalized System of Preferences program and at the U.S. Department of Commerce as an international trade analyst conducting antidumping duty investigations.

She is a graduate of the University of Richmond and the London School of Economics and Political Science. 

Lesley Ahmed covers the USITC’s grain and cereal product portfolio, contributing to trade analysis on these and other agricultural commodities. Lesley has also worked for the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service as an agricultural economist and as the International Trade Program manager for the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. She received her M.S. and B.S. in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University.

To read the USITC’s report on Rice: Global Competitive of the U.S. Industry, visit http://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/pub4530.pdf.