Gov. Kemp on Mission to Brazil and Argentina This Week as Georgia Marks 30th Anniversary of Sao Paulo Office

Gov. Brian Kemp is on a trade mission to South America this week, visiting existing investors and prospects in Brazil before making a stop in Argentina. 

Mr. Kemp, who is accompanied by Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper and officials from the Georgia Department of Economic Development and the Georgia Ports Authority, is set to meet with five Brazilian companies that have invested all over Georgia, all of them outside Atlanta. 

The trip comes weeks after the state announced the Pilgrim’s Pride, owned by Brazil’s JBS, would put a new poultry processing facility in northwest Georgia, investing $400 million. 

He’ll also stop in on Georgia-based AGCO Corp.’s Brazil operations — the Fortune 500 tractor giant employs thousands in the country, including 3,000-plus in Rio Grande do Sul, where it operates a massive factory. 

Many large Georgia companies, from Coca-Cola, Delta, NCR, Novelis and more, operate in Brazil, with which the state had $2.4 billion in bilateral trade, including $745 million in exports. 

A key objective of the trip is marking the 30th anniversary of the state’s office in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city and a financial and tech hub from which many tech companies investing in Atlanta have originated. 

The governor’s office laid out some of his planned visits in a news release, including a stop at CSN, the (privatized) Brazilian national steel company, which currently doesn’t have a presence in Georgia. Brazil’s Gerdau Steel has a location in Cartersville. 

Brazilian steel products are facing a 50 percent tariff upon entering the United States thanks to President Trump’s Section 232 metals tariffs enacted earlier this year. The president has since raised general tariffs on Brazilian goods to 50 percent in a move widely seen as politically motivated, but those do not stack on top of the metals levies. 

The governor’s office outlined Mr. Kemp’s current itinerary in Brazil, from which more than 70 companies have invested in Georgia:

JBS: Largely through its subsidiary Pilgrim’s, the company supports an estimated 9,000 jobs across Georgia. In 2025, Pilgrim’s announced plans to invest $400 million in a new prepared foods facility in LaFayette that is expected to employ 630 people when fully operational.

Taurus: In 2019, Taurus relocated its U.S. headquarters and manufacturing operations to Bainbridge, representing $22 million in investment and more than 350 jobs | Global Atlanta coverage

Embraer: Embraer Aircraft Maintenance Services (EAMS) operates a key maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility at the Middle Georgia Regional Airport in Macon, Georgia. | Global Atlanta coverage

GranBio: GranBio’s U.S. operations are centered in Thomaston, Georgia, where it operates a pilot and demonstration plant through its subsidiary AVAPCO LLC. The biorefinery serves as GranBio’s primary R&D center in the U.S. | Global Atlanta coverage

Guidoni Group: Guidoni Group’s facility in McRae represents approximately $100 million in investment. | Global Atlanta coverage

Mr. Kemp will also make a stop in Buenos Aires, Argentina, whose consulate general in Atlanta coincidentally hosted an event designed to showcase investment opportunities in the country Tuesday morning. 

Argentina has a comparatively smaller footprint in the state, with just a few substantive investments beyond tech companies that have set up offices mainly to attract U.S. customers. Exports from Georgia to the country stood at $120 million last year. 

But that could change, said Consul General Alana Lomonaco Busto, who said that industrial firms are also looking to set up abroad. 

“It has been happening for a while, but now it’s expressly wanted to support Argentine companies to internationalize, because we understand that we need to go to the market, to be there,” Ms. Lomonaco said, noting the consulate has put prospects on the governor’s radar. 

Mr. Kemp is set to visit Bersa, a firearms manufacturer, which has a facility in Cartersville. Tecme, a Córdoba-based maker of medical respirators, is another Argentine success story in Georgia, setting up shop in Norcross to serve customers in 50-plus countries. Read more about that company here