[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 113 (Wednesday, June 12, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 40343]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-14792]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

[NAFTA-5832]


Pittsburgh Annealing Box Company, LLC, Pittsburgh, PA; Notice of 
Negative Determination Regarding Application for Reconsideration

    By application dated April 16, 2002, the company requested 
administrative reconsideration of the Department's negative 
determination regarding eligibility to apply for North American Free 
Trade Agreement-Transitional Adjustment Assistance (NAFTA-TAA), 
applicable to workers and former workers of the subject firm. The 
denial notice was signed on March 25, 2002, and was published in the 
Federal Register on April 5, 2002 (67 FR 16442).
    Pursuant to 29 CFR 90.18(c) reconsideration may be granted under 
the following circumstances:
    (1) If it appears on the basis of facts not previously considered 
that the determination complained of was erroneous;
    (2) if it appears that the determination complained of was based on 
a mistake in the determination of facts not previously considered; or
    (3) if in the opinion of the Certifying Officer, a mis-
interpretation of facts or of the law justified reconsideration of the 
decision.
    The denial of NAFTA-TAA for workers engaged in activities related 
to the production of annealing inner covers at Pittsburgh Annealing Box 
Company, LLC, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was based on the finding that 
criteria (3) and (4) of the group eligibility requirements of paragraph 
(a)(1) of section 250 of the Trade Act, as amended, were not met. There 
were no company imports of annealing inner covers from Mexico or 
Canada, nor did the subject firm shift production from Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania to Mexico or Canada. The survey conducted by the 
Department of Labor revealed no increase in customers' purchases of 
annealing inner covers from Canada or Mexico during the period of sales 
declines at the subject plant.
    The petitioner alleges that increased imports of semi-processed 
steel from Mexico adversely affected the business of their customers. 
The petitioner further states that these imports have displaced tonnage 
that the subject firm's customers would have produced and thus reduced 
the need for the product produced by the subject plant (annealing inner 
covers).
    Semi-processed steel imports into the United States are not 
relevant to the TAA petition that was filed on behalf of workers 
producing annealing inner covers. The product imported must be ``like 
or directly'' competitive with what the subject plant produced and the 
imports must ``contribute importantly'' to the layoffs at the subject 
plant to meet the eligibility requirements for adjustment assistance 
under section 250(a) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended. Further 
examination of the facts developed in the initial investigation show 
that company imports and customer imports of annealing inner covers did 
not ``contribute importantly'' to the layoffs at the subject plant.

Conclusion

    After review of the application and investigative findings, I 
conclude that there has been no error or misinterpretation of the law 
or of the facts which would justify reconsideration of the Department 
of Labor's prior decision. Accordingly, the application is denied.

    Signed at Washington, DC this 30th day of May, 2002.
Edward A. Tomchick,
Director, Division of Trade Adjustment Assistance.
[FR Doc. 02-14792 Filed 6-11-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-P