The House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee will hold a hearing Wednesday on the benefits of expanding U.S. trade and eliminating barriers to U.S. exports, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., has announced.

The hearing will be held in Room 1100 of the Longworth House Office Building at 10 a.m.

In the announcement, Nunes noted that the benefits of trade extend beyond the farm and ranch, but that agriculture continues to face barriers to market including tariffs, import quotas and other explicit border restrictions.

Nunes also said that agriculture is facing less traditional barriers such as sanitary and phytosanitary measures and “improper restriction of the use of generic food names by designating them as ‘geographical indications,’ forcing U.S. agriculture exporters to either abandon markets or product names they have used for years.”

According to a subcommittee advisory, the hearing focus will include:

1. U.S. successes as the world’s largest agriculture exporter, including job creation and economic growth;
2. Foreign tariff and non-tariff barriers faced by U.S. agriculture exports; and
3. How current and future trade negotiations and other efforts can reduce those barriers.

“The U.S. economy and the vitality of rural America depend on our continued position as the world’s largest agriculture exporter,” Nunes said in announcing the hearing.

“We must to do more to knock down barriers imposed by other countries on our agriculture exports.”