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​Trade Adjustment Assistance – Petition Information for Employers


The Trade Adjustment Assistance Program is a federal program that assists workers who lose their jobs or whose work hour or wages are reduced as a result of foreign competition or increased imports. 

As an employer, you can make a difference for any hard times that your workers face due to business downturns, closures or production or services moved outside the country by filing a petition for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) with the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL).

In most cases, a petition must be submitted to USDOL within one year of the layoff for those workers to be covered by the petition. A petition may be filed before a layoff, based on a threatened layoff. A certification will not apply to any worker whose most recent total or partial separation from certified employment occurred more than a year before the certified petition’s filing date. 

Upon receiving a petition, USDOL will begin an inquiry to determine whether the circumstances of the layoff meet the eligibility criteria established by the Trade Adjustment Assistance act. 

Eligibility Criteria 

The worker group must be negatively impacted by foreign trade in order to be eligible for TAA. Reasons may include:

​Production or services relocated outside of the country
Shift in the workers' firm to a foreign country in the production of items or the supply of services that are competitive with items produced by the United States firm.
Increased foreign imports negatively impacting business
Imports of items produced outside of the US that are competitive with items produced by the US firm. 

International Trade Commission (ITC) rulings on impacted industries.
​Downstream supplier or producer
The firm is a supplier or producer to a firm who has received a positive TAA certification.
USDOL may contact customers, suppliers, and others, in order to determine whether criteria have been met for certification. After the petition has been investigated by USDOL, the workers group will be certified or denied eligibility to apply for TAA. Workers who become part of a certified group can then apply individually for benefits and services through their local PA CareerLink®.

TAA petitions must be completed with the following petitioners:

    • Group of three or more workers
    • Company official
    • Union or other duly authorized representative
    • Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) representative
Pennsylvania’s L&I Federal Programs Unit assists and manages all trade petitions; however, USDOL determines the Trade eligibility. 

Filing Resources:

Trade Act petitions must be filed simultaneously with the U.S. Department of Labor and the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry at the following addresses:

​U.S. Department of Labor
Division of Trade Adjustment Assistance
200 Constitution Avenue
N.W. Room N-5428
Washington, D.C. 20210
Phone: 202-693-3560
Fax: 202-693-3585
​Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry
Bureau of Unemployment Compensation Benefits & Allowances
Federal Program Unit
651 Boas Street, 6th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17120
Phone: 717-787-4268
Fax: 717-772-0278