Certification
A firm must be certified as eligible by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration in order to receive Trade Adjustment Assistance.
The Southwest TAAC will, at no cost to the firm, help the firm prepare a petition for certification.
Eligibility Criteria
To be certified, a firm must show that competitive, imported products have significantly contributed to both of the following:
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A decline in sales or production in the most recent 12 months compared to the prior 12 months. If overall declines are not evident, the firm may be able to demonstrate declines in one product line if that product accounted for at least 25% of the total sales of the firm.
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The separation (or threat of separation) of a significant portion of the firm’s workers. An employment decline of 5% is considered significant.
Required Information
The petition will include information about the company’s:
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related firms; economic history; owners and managers; articles produced and sold; sales, production and employment data.
and will require support documentation such as:
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financial statements, federal income tax returns; quarterly employment reports; and enough customer references who, in the most recent twelve month period, have reduced purchases in favor of imports to account for 5% of the sales decline.
The pre-certification process of the Southwest TAAC helps to ensure that the firm’s petition will be accepted and certified; however, a firm can withdraw its petition at any time without prejudice and resubmit it. Once a firm is certified, it has two years to submit a specific plan describing the project for which it intends to receive cost sharing benefits.
All information is kept confidential.
