DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

TA-W-54,379

CAROLINA RUBBER ROLLS
GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA


Negative Determination Regarding Eligibility
To Apply for Worker Adjustment Assistance

In accordance with Section 223 of the Trade Act of 1974, as
amended (19 USC 2273), the Department of Labor herein presents
the results of an investigation regarding certification of
eligibility to apply for worker adjustment assistance. The group
eligibility requirements for directly-impacted (primary) workers
under Section 222(a) the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, can be
satisfied in either of two ways:
I. Section (a)(2)(A) all of the following must be satisfied:
A. a significant number or proportion of the workers in
such workers' firm, or an appropriate subdivision of
the firm, have become totally or partially separated,
or are threatened to become totally or partially
separated;
B. the sales or production, or both, of such firm or
subdivision have decreased absolutely; and
C. increased imports of articles like or directly
competitive with articles produced by such firm or
subdivision have contributed importantly to such
workers' separation or threat of separation and to the
decline in sales or production of such firm or
subdivision; or



II. Section (a)(2)(B) both of the following must be satisfied:

A. a significant number or proportion of the workers in
such workers' firm, or an appropriate subdivision of
the firm firm, have become totally or partially
separated, or are threatened to become totally or
partially separated;
B. there has been a shift in production by such workers'
firm or subdivision to a foreign country of articles
like or directly competitive with articles which are
produced by such firm or subdivision; and

C. One of the following must be satisfied:
1. the country to which the workers' firm has shifted
production of the articles is a party to a free trade
agreement with the United States;
2. the country to which the workers' firm has shifted
production of the articles is a beneficiary country
under the Andean Trade Preference Act, African Growth
and Opportunity Act, or the Caribbean Basin Economic
Recovery Act; or
3. there has been or is likely to be an increase in
imports of articles that are like or directly
competitive with articles which are or were produced
by such firm or subdivision.

The investigation was initiated on February 27, 2004 in
response to a petition filed by a company official on behalf of
workers at Carolina Rubber Rolls, Greenville, South Carolina.
The workers produce industrial roll products and are not
separately identifiable by product line.
The investigation revealed that criteria (I.C) and (II.B)
have not been met.
The investigation revealed that there were no company
imports of industrial roll products, nor was there a shift in
production of industrial roll products from the Greenville,
South Carolina plant to a foreign country during the period
under investigation. The worker separations were due to the
transfer of production to another company-owned domestic plant.
The Department conducted a survey of major declining cus-
tomers of the subject firm regarding their purchases of
industrial roll products in 2002, 2003, and the first-quarter of
2004. The survey revealed that the respondents did not import
industrial roll products in the relevant period.
Furthermore, petitioners allege that job losses were due to
their firm losing business as a supplier to a firm that shifted
production abroad or was affected by increased imports. The
investigation revealed, however, that was not the case. The
articles produced by the petitioner were not component parts for
articles that were the basis for a certification for trade
adjustment assistance eligibility.









Conclusion
After careful review, I determine that workers producing
industrial roll products at Carolina Rubber Rolls, Greenville,
South Carolina, are denied eligibility to apply for adjustment
assistance under Section 223 of the Trade Act of 1974.
Signed at Washington, D.C., this 16th day of April, 2004.

/s/ Elliott S. Kushner
_____________________________
ELLIOTT S. KUSHNER
Certifying Officer, Division of
Trade Adjustment Assistance