Large Residential Washers (LRWs), 61329-61330 [2017-27670]

Agencies

• Employment and Training Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 247 (Wednesday, December 27, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61329-61330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-27670]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Large Residential Washers (LRWs)

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration (ETA), Labor.

ACTION: Publication of summary of the Department of Labor's report on 
the investigation.

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SUMMARY: Section 224(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 (``Trade Act'') 
requires the United States Department of Labor (``Department'') to 
publish in the Federal Register a summary of each report that it 
submits to the President under section 224(a) of the Trade Act. Set 
forth below is a summary of the report that the Department submitted to 
the President on December 19, 2017, on investigation No. TA-201-76, 
Large Residential Washers. The Department conducted the investigation 
under section 224(a) following notification by the International Trade 
Commission (``Commission''), as required by section 202(a)(3) of the 
Trade Act that a petition was filed alleging that LRWs are being 
imported into the United States in such increased quantities as to be a 
substantial cause of serious injury, or threat thereof, to the domestic 
industry producing an article like or directly competitive with the 
imported article.

DATES: December 19, 2017: Transmittal of the Department's report to the 
President.

ADDRESSES: United States Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20210. The public report may be viewed on the 
Department's website at https://www.doleta.gov/tradeact.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Norris Tyler, Administrator, Office of 
Trade Adjustment Assistance, Employment and Training Administration, 
U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 
20210; Telephone: (202) 693-3560 (this is not a toll-free number). The 
media should contact Egan Reich, Office of Public Affairs, on (202) 
693-4960, or [email protected]. Congressional inquiries may be 
directed

[[Page 61330]]

to Byron Anderson, Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental 
Affairs, on (202) 693-4600, or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 224(a), the Department 
will investigate: (1) The number of workers in the domestic industry 
producing the like or directly competitive article(s) who have been or 
are likely to be certified as eligible for adjustment assistance, and 
(2) the extent to which the adjustment of such workers to the import 
competition may be facilitated through the use of existing programs. 
The full text of the report will be posted on the Department's website 
at https://www.doleta.gov/tradeact.
    Procedural Summary: On October 5, 2017, the Commission issued an 
affirmative determination under Section 202(b)(1) of the Trade Act of 
1974 in its safeguard investigation No. TA-201-76, Large Residential 
Washers. The Commission submitted a report to the President on December 
4, 2017, which can be found on https://www.usitc.gov. A summary was 
also published in the Federal Register (82 FR 58026 (December 08, 
2017)).
    Section 202(c)(1) of the Trade Act directs the Department to report 
to the President certain information whenever the Commission makes a 
finding under Section 202 of the Trade Act. The Department's report to 
the President studies the following:
    (1) The number of workers in the domestic industry for LRWs 
producing the like or directly competitive article who have been or are 
likely to be certified as eligible for adjustment assistance; and
    (2) The extent to which the adjustment of workers to the import 
competition may be facilitated through the use of existing programs.
    Consistent with the statutory requirement, the focus of the 
Department's study is limited to potential future job losses related to 
increased imports on the domestic production of LRWs. Job losses in 
related domestic industries or upstream providers, if any, and 
consequences of potential remedies, such as foregone job growth due to 
less foreign direct investment are outside the scope of this report. 
Based on the Department's analysis, the current size of the U.S. 
domestic workforce responsible for the production of LRWs is 
approximately 4,000.
    In the U.S. domestic industry, there are four companies which are 
currently employing workers: Whirlpool, Staber, Alliance, and General 
Electric. During the Commission's investigation, the petitioner 
(Whirlpool) maintained that in addition to tariffs, a quota on imported 
covered parts would be a strong final remedy that will ensure U.S. 
manufacturing jobs are protected. However, other interested 
stakeholders (LG and Samsung) suggest that among other things, the 
protection of U.S. jobs afforded by the tariff and quota may be offset 
in part by the loss of U.S. jobs that could result from higher consumer 
prices for LRWs and reduce overall consumer demand. We also note that 
Samsung and LG both have plans in the near future to open factories in 
the United States that would provide an estimated 1,600 new jobs in 
this industry. It is difficult to determine what the effect any 
remedies would have on long-run employment in this industry.
    The Department's study on LRWs, as required under Section 224, 
found the following:
    1. The Department received Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) 
petitions for four worker groups involved in the production of LRWs 
since January 2012. All four of those worker groups were certified as 
eligible to apply for TAA, resulting in an estimated 183 workers 
eligible to apply for individual benefits under the TAA Program.
    2. The Department estimates that 324 additional workers are likely 
to be covered by certified TAA petitions before the end of 2019.
    3. Sufficient funding is available to provide TAA benefits and 
services to these workers. In Fiscal Year 2017, the Department provided 
$391 million to states to provide training and other activities for TAA 
participants, as well as $294 million in funding for Trade Readjustment 
Allowances, and $31 million in Reemployment Trade Adjustment Assistance 
funds.
    4. The Department believes that training and benefits under the 
Trade Act, other Department programs, and programs at other federal 
agencies are sufficient to assist workers in the LRWs industry to 
adjust to the trade impact.
    As required by Section 224(f)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 
U.S.C. 2274(f)(1)), the Department must provide notice of an 
affirmative determination by the Commission and the identity of the 
affected firms to the Governor in each State in which one or more firms 
in the affected industry are located. The Department must also notify 
representatives of the domestic industry, firms identified by name 
during the proceedings, and any recognized worker representatives of 
the benefits available under the TAA program, the manner in which to 
file a petition to apply for such benefits, and the availability of 
assistance in filing TAA petitions.
    Finally, once the Commission's findings and the Department's report 
are provided to the President, the President may impose relief in the 
form of increased duties and/or other restrictions on imports of LRWs 
under Section 203 of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2253).

Rosemary Lahasky,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training.
[FR Doc. 2017-27670 Filed 12-26-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-FN-P