[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 4, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16834-16835]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-4847]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

[TA-W-56,674]


CTS Corporation, CTS Communications Components, Inc., Including 
On-Site Leased Workers of Excel and Spherion; Albuquerque, New Mexico; 
Notice of Revised Determination on Remand

    In an Order issued on February 7, 2006, the United States Court of 
International Trade (USCIT) granted the motion filed by the Department 
of Labor (Department) for voluntary remand in Former Employees of CTS 
Communication Components, Inc. v. United States Secretary of Labor, 
Court No. 05-00372.
    On April 15, 2005, the Department issued a negative determination 
regarding workers eligibility to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance 
(TAA) and Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance (ATAA) for workers 
and former workers of CTS Corporation, CTS Communications Components, 
Inc., Including On-Site Leased Workers of Excel and Spherion, 
Albuquerque, New Mexico, (CTS). Workers produce ceramic blocks/filters 
and sensors and are not separately identifiable by product line. The 
Department's Notice of determination was published in the Federal 
Register on May 16, 2005 (70 FR 25859).
    The determination was based on the findings that the subject 
company neither imported ceramic blocks/filters or sensors in 2003, 
2004, or during the period of January through February 2005, nor 
shifted production of ceramic blocks/filters or sensors abroad during 
the relevant period, and that the subject company's major declining 
customers did not increase imports of ceramic blocks/filters or sensors 
during the relevant period.
    On June 7, 2005, the Department dismissed a request for 
administrative reconsideration based upon a lack of substantial new 
information. In the request for reconsideration, the petitioner alleged 
that production shifted to China and that the customer are unknowingly 
importing ceramic blocks/filters and/or sensors from China. The 
dismissal stated that while production did shift to China, as alleged, 
neither the subject company nor its customers had increased imports of 
ceramic blocks/filters or sensors. The Department's Notice of Dismissal 
of Application for Reconsideration was issued on June 8, 2005 and 
published in the Federal Register on June 20, 2005 (70 FR 35455).
    By letter dated May 7, 2005, the Plaintiffs applied to the USCIT 
for judicial review. On February 7, 2006, the USCIT granted the 
Department's request for voluntary remand and directed the Department 
to conduct further investigation regarding the workers' eligibility to 
apply for TAA and ATAA.
    During the remand investigation, the Department contacted the 
subject company to ascertain what products were produced at the subject 
facility during the relevant period and whether the subject company or 
its customers had imported those articles during the relevant period.
    A careful review of the newly-obtained information has revealed 
that the subject company had produced ceramic filters and ceramic 
sensors during 2003, 2004, and 2005 and that the workers were not 
separately identifiable by product line. The new information also 
revealed that some production of ceramic sensors shifted to China and 
that finished ceramic sensors manufactured in China were shipped to 
customers in the United States.
    Additional investigation has determined that the workers possess 
skills that are not easily transferable. A significant number or 
proportion of the worker group are age fifty years or over. Competitive 
conditions within the industry are adverse.

Conclusion

    After careful review of the facts generated through the remand 
investigation, I determine that increased imports of ceramic sensors 
like or directly competitive with those produced by the subject firm 
contributed importantly to the total or partial separation of a 
significant number of workers at the subject facility. In accordance 
with the provisions of the Act, I make the following certification:

    ``All workers of CTS Corporation, CTS Communications Components, 
Inc., Including On-Site Leased Workers of Excel and Spherion, 
Albuquerque, New Mexico, who became totally or partially separated 
from employment on or after February 28, 2004, through two years 
from the issuance of this revised determination, are eligible to 
apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance under Section 223 of the Trade 
Act of 1974, and are also eligible to apply for alternative trade 
adjustment assistance under Section 246 of the Trade Act of 1974.''


[[Page 16835]]


    Signed at Washington, DC, this 22nd day of March 2006.
Elliott S. Kushner,
Certifying Officer, Division of Trade Adjustment Assistance.
[FR Doc. E6-4847 Filed 4-3-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-P