DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

TA-W-74,458

SMART-SOX, INC.
THOMASVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

Negative Determination Regarding Eligibility
To Apply for Worker Adjustment Assistance

In accordance with Section 223 of the Trade Act of 1974, as
amended ("Act"), 19 U.S.C. § 2273, the Department of Labor
herein presents the results of an investigation regarding
certification of eligibility to apply for worker adjustment
assistance.
Workers of a firm may be eligible for worker adjustment
assistance if they satisfy the criteria of subsection (a), (c)
or (f) of Section 222 of the Act, 19 U.S.C. § 2272(a), (c), (f).
For the Department of Labor to issue a certification for workers
under Section 222(a) of the Act, 19 U.S.C. § 2272(a), the
following three criteria must be met:
I. The first criterion (set forth in Section 222(a)(1) of the
Act, 19 U.S.C. § 2282(a)(1)) requires that a significant
number or proportion of the workers in the workers' firm
must have become totally or partially separated or be
threatened with total or partial separation.

II. The second criterion (set forth in Section 222(a)(2) of the
Act, 19 U.S.C. § 2272(a)(2)) may be satisfied in one of two
ways:
(A) Increased Imports Path:
(i) sales or production, or both, at the workers' firm
must have decreased absolutely, AND
(ii) (I) imports of articles or services like or directly
competitive with articles or services produced or
supplied by the workers' firm have increased, OR
(II)(aa) imports of articles like or directly
competitive with articles into which the
component part produced by the workers' firm was
directly incorporated have increased; OR
(II)(bb) imports of articles like or directly
competitive with articles which are produced
directly using the services supplied by the
workers' firm have increased; OR
(III) imports of articles directly incorporating
component parts not produced in the U.S. that are
like or directly competitive with the article
into which the component part produced by the
workers' firm was directly incorporated have
increased.

(B) Shift in Production or Supply Path:
(i)(I) there has been a shift by the workers' firm to a
foreign country in the production of articles or
supply of services like or directly competitive with
those produced/supplied by the workers' firm; OR
(i)(II) there has been an acquisition from a foreign
country by the workers' firm of articles/services that
are like or directly competitive with those
produced/supplied by the workers' firm.

III. The third criterion requires that the increase in imports
or shift/acquisition must have contributed importantly to
the workers' separation or threat of separation. See
Sections 222(a)(2)(A)(iii) and 222(a)(2)(B)(ii) of the Act,
19 U.S.C. §§ 2272(a)(2)(A)(iii), 2272(a)(2)(B)(ii).

Section 222(d) of the Act, 19 U.S.C. § 2272(d), defines the
terms "Supplier" and "Downstream Producer." For the Department
to issue a secondary worker certification under Section 222(c)
of the Act, 19 U.S.C. § 2272(c), to workers of a Supplier or a
Downstream Producer, the following criteria must be met:
(1) a significant number or proportion of the workers in
the workers' firm or an appropriate subdivision of the
firm have become totally or partially separated, or
are threatened to become totally or partially
separated;

(2) the workers' firm is a Supplier or Downstream Producer
to a firm that employed a group of workers who
received a certification of eligibility under Section
222(a) of the Act, 19 U.S.C. § 2272(a), and such
supply or production is related to the article or
service that was the basis for such certification; and

(3) either
(A) the workers' firm is a supplier and the component
parts it supplied to the firm described in paragraph
(2) accounted for at least 20 percent of the
production or sales of the workers' firm; or
(B) a loss of business by the workers' firm with the firm
described in paragraph (2) contributed importantly to
the workers' separation or threat of separation.

Workers of a firm may also be considered eligible if they
are publicly identified by name by the International Trade
Commission (ITC) as a member of a domestic industry in an
investigation resulting in a category of determination that is
listed in Section 222(f) of the Act, 19 U.S.C. § 2272(f).
The group eligibility requirements for workers of a firm
under Section 222(f) of the Act, 19 U.S.C. § 2272(f), can be
satisfied if the following criteria are met:
(1) the workers' firm is publicly identified by name by
the International Trade Commission as a member of a
domestic industry in an investigation resulting in--
(A) an affirmative determination of serious injury or
threat thereof under section 202(b)(1);
(B) an affirmative determination of market disruption
or threat thereof under section 421(b)(1); or
(C) an affirmative final determination of material
injury or threat thereof under section
705(b)(1)(A) or 735(b)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of
1930 (19 U.S.C. 1671d(b)(1)(A) and
1673d(b)(1)(A));
(2) the petition is filed during the 1-year period
beginning on the date on which--
(A) a summary of the report submitted to the
President by the International Trade Commission
under section 202(f)(1) with respect to the
affirmative determination described in paragraph
(1)(A) is published in the Federal Register under
section 202(f)(3); or
(B) notice of an affirmative determination described
in subparagraph (1) is published in the Federal
Register; and
(3) the workers have become totally or partially
separated from the workers' firm within--
(A) the 1-year period described in paragraph (2); or
(B) notwithstanding section 223(b)(1), the 1-year
period preceding the 1-year period described in
paragraph (2).

The investigation was initiated in response to a petition
filed on August 2, 2010, filed by a company official on behalf
of workers of Smart-Sox, Inc., Thomasville, North Carolina
(Smart-Sox). The workers were engaged in the supply of
dealership (purchasing and selling) services of machinery and
parts used in the hosiery and socks industry.
The petitioner states that "the production of hosiery &
socks has moved offshore to Mexico, S.A., Pakistan, Turkey,
and China . . . as the production has moved, we have lost our
customer base."
The investigation included communications with the
petitioner and other company officials regarding information
pertaining to the worker group.
With respect to Section 222(a) of the Act, the
investigation revealed that workers of Smart-Sox, who were
engaged in employment related to the purchasing and selling of
machinery and parts, do not meet the criteria for
certification.
With respect to Section 222(a) of the Act, the
investigation revealed that Criterion II has not been met
because Smart-Sox did not shift to, or acquire from, a foreign
country the supply of services like or directly competitive
with the dealership services supplied by workers at the
Thomasville, North Carolina facility. Further, Smart-Sox has
not increased its imports of services like or directly
competitive with the dealership services supplied by workers at
the Thomasville, North Carolina facility.
A shift in production to a foreign country by the former
customer of Smart-Sox followed by the former customers' decision
to use dealership services supplied by a foreign vendor does not
constitute a shift of supply of services by the subject firm.
Likewise, the use of foreign-supplied dealership services at a
foreign facility by the subject firm's former customers does not
constitute increased imports of dealership services.
With respect to Section 222(c) of the Act, the
investigation revealed that Criterion (2) has not been met
because Smart-Sox did not produce a component part or supply a
service that was directly used by a firm (with a worker group
certified eligibly to apply for TAA) in the production of an
article that was the basis for TAA-certification. The supply
of dealership services related to textile machinery and parts
are not services that are directly used in the production of
hosiery or socks.
Finally, the group eligibility requirements under Section
222(f) of the Act, 19 U.S.C. § 2272(f), have not been met
because Smart-Sox, Inc. has not been identified in an
affirmative finding of injury by the ITC.
Conclusion
After careful review of the facts obtained in the
investigation, I determine that workers of Smart-Sox, Inc.,
Thomasville, North Carolina, who were engaged in the supply of
dealership (purchasing and selling) services of machinery and
parts used in the hosiery and socks industry, are denied
eligibility to apply for adjustment assistance under Section 223
of the Act, 19 U.S.C. § 2273.
Signed in Washington, D.C., this 24th day of August, 2010


/s/Del Min Amy Chen
______________________________
DEL MIN AMY CHEN
Certifying Officer, Office of
Trade Adjustment Assistance