[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 24 (Friday, February 4, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 5695]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-2505]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

[TA-W-36,841]


Sony Magnetic Products Inc. of America, Dothan, Alabama; Notice 
of Revised Determination on Reopening

    By letter postmarked January 5, 2000, a company official requested 
administrative reconsideration of the Department's notice of negative 
determination regarding eligibility to apply for worker adjustment 
assistance applicable to workers of the subject firm.
    On December 21, 1999, workers of Sony Magnetic Products Inc. of 
America producing VHS videocassettes were denied TAA eligibility based 
on the finding that criterion (3) of Section 222 of the worker group 
eligibility requirements of the Trade Act of 1974 was not met. The 
notice was published in the Federal Register on January 14, 2000 (65 FR 
2432). A survey was conducted by the Department of the subject firms' 
major declining customers. None of the respondents increased import 
purchases while reducing business with Sony. Although Sony Magnetic 
Products Inc. of America was shifting production of VHS videocassettes 
from Dothan, Alabama to a foreign country, imports had not yet been 
returned to the U.S.
    The Department has obtained new information from the company 
documenting that the company has received VHS videocassette imports and 
the reliance on imports will continue as production decreases at the 
Dothan, Alabama plant.

Conclusion

    After careful consideration of the new facts obtained on reopening, 
it is concluded that increased imports of articles like or directly 
competitive with VHS videocassettes produced by the subject firm 
contributed importantly to the decline in sales and to the total or 
partial separation of workers of the subject firm. In accordance with 
the provisions of the Trade Act of 1974, I make the following revised 
determination:

    ``All workers of Sony Magnetic Products Inc. of America, Dothan, 
Alabama, engaged in employment related to the production of VHS 
videocassettes, separated from employment on or after September 2, 
1998 through two years from the issuance of this determination, are 
eligible to apply for worker adjustment assistance under Section 223 
of the Trade Act of 1974.''

    Signed at Washington, DC this 24th day of January, 2000.
Grant D. Beale,
Program Manager, Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance.
[FR Doc. 00-2505 Filed 2-3-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-M