The Trade Act Agreement can help people who lose their jobs go back to school.
The Trade Act Agreement, which is officially called "Trade Adjustment Assistance," is a program designed to help workers who lose their jobs to foreign trade. It is part of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the act helps workers whose jobs have been shipped overseas in several ways including, providing job training for new jobs, income support, a tax credit and help with relocation.
History
In 1962, the U.S. government created the Trade Expansion Act to lower trade barriers overseas and help expand trade. According to Princeton University, Trade Adjustment Assistance was created as part of the Trade Expansion Act to protect workers who lost their jobs as a result of lower trade barriers.
Impact
According to Princeton University, the Trade Act has helped workers with training for new jobs, relocation expenses and income maintenance, but most of its help has been in the area of income maintenance. However, since the 1980s, training has become a larger part of the Trade Act assistance. This training helps workers get new jobs instead of just supporting them after they lose jobs due to overseas trade. Many displaced workers receive help with tuition at schools that will lead to a new job.
Application Process
Before unemployed individuals can obtain any assistance through the trade act, they must apply with the U.S. Department of Labor for Trade Adjustment Assistance. This application process consists of a petition to the U.S. Department of Labor and then an application with a local One-Stop Career Center for specific benefits.
Eligibility Requirements
Specific eligibility requirements exist for workers to get help under the Trade Act. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the former company that the worker was employed with must produce goods or services or be a public agency that supplies a service. A certain amount of the company's workers must have been laid off as well, with at least three employees having been laid off from companies with fewer than 50 workers or at least five percent of employees having been laid off from companies with more than 50 workers. There also needs to have been an increase in imports within the company that led to sales decreases and layoffs, a shift of jobs to overseas employees that led to layoffs, a loss of business to a TAA-certified firm that led to layoffs or services and sales from a foreign country that led to layoffs.
Trade Act Within North America
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) also has a Trade Act, or Trade Adjustment Assistance, for workers who lost their jobs due to trade with Canada or Mexico or workers who lost their jobs due to a shift in jobs to Canada or Mexico. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, workers who lose jobs due to these types of activities with Canada and Mexico can get help from the Trade Act with re-employment.
