[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 16, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 33669]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-13541]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

[TA-W-54,082]


Fountain Construction Company, Inc., Assembly Board Tooling 
Division, Jackson, MS; Notice of Negative Determination on 
Reconsideration

    On April 23, 2004, the Department issued an Affirmative 
Determination Regarding Application for Reconsideration for the workers 
and former workers of the subject firm. The notice was published in the 
Federal Register on May 10, 2004 (69 FR 25926). The subject worker 
group produces assembly board tooling which is used to produce wire 
harnesses.
    The Department denied the initial petition because the 
``contributed importantly'' and shift of production group eligibility 
requirements of section 222(3) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, 
were not met. The initial investigation revealed that during the 
relevant time period, the subject company neither increased imports of 
assembly board tooling nor shifted production abroad. A survey of the 
subject company's major declining customer revealed decreased imports 
of assembly board tooling during the relevant time period.
    In the request for reconsideration, the company asserted that 
because its major customer shifted wire harness production to Mexico, 
the subject worker group is eligible for Trade Adjustment Assistance.
    During the reconsideration investigation, the Department contacted 
the subject company to clarify the relationship between assembly board 
tooling and wire harnesses and contacted the major customer to inquire 
about imports of assembly board tooling.
    The subject company official explained that the assembly board 
tooling consists of assembly boards mounted on a conveyor system. 
Assembly boards are boards with pegs arranged in a specific pattern on 
it. The assembly boards sit on an apparatus that moves them from 
station to station. At various stations, wires are wrapped around them 
in a particular fashion, the wires are taped to maintain the 
configuration, and the taped units (wire harnesses) are pulled off the 
assembly board.
    A review of the material revealed that neither the subject company 
nor the major customer increased imports or shifted production of 
assembly board tooling during the relevant period.
    In order for the subject worker group to be considered eligible to 
apply for TAA benefits as secondarily-impacted, the subject firm must 
have customers that are TAA certified and these TAA certified customers 
would represent a significant portion of the subject company's 
business. In addition, the subject company would have to either produce 
a component part of the product that was the basis for the customer's 
certification or act as a downstream producer (assembling or finishing) 
of the product that was the basis for that certification.
    In the case at hand, the subject company does not produce a 
component part of the wire harnesses and is not an assembler or 
finisher of wire harnesses. Although assembly board tooling is used to 
produce wire harnesses, it is not incorporated into the wire harnesses. 
Therefore, the subject company is not considered to be an upstream 
supplier to the major customer. Because the subject worker group 
assemblies the boards and neither assembles nor finishes the wire 
harnesses, the subject company is not considered a downstream producer 
of wire harnesses.

Conclusion

    After reconsideration, I affirm the original notice of negative 
determination of eligibility to apply for worker adjustment assistance 
for workers and former workers of Fountain Construction Company, Inc., 
Assembly Board Tooling Division, Jackson, Mississippi.

    Signed in Washington, DC, this 4th day of June, 2004.
Elliott S. Kushner,
Certifying Officer, Division of Trade Adjustment Assistance.
[FR Doc. 04-13541 Filed 6-15-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-M