Petitions and determinations
Filing of petition; receipt of petition; initiation of investigation
Public hearing
Certification
The Secretary shall certify a firm (including any agricultural firm or service sector firm) as eligible to apply for adjustment assistance under this part if the Secretary determines—
that a significant number or proportion of the workers in such firm have become totally or partially separated, or are threatened to become totally or partially separated,
that—
sales or production, or both, of the firm have decreased absolutely,
sales or production, or both, of an article or service that accounted for not less than 25 percent of the total sales or production of the firm during the 12-month period preceding the most recent 12-month period for which date 1
sales or production, or both, of the firm during the most recent 12-month period for which data are available have decreased compared to—
the average annual sales or production for the firm during the 24-month period preceding that 12-month period, or
the average annual sales or production for the firm during the 36-month period preceding that 12-month period, and
sales or production, or both, of an article or service that accounted for not less than 25 percent of the total sales or production of the firm during the most recent 12-month period for which data are available have decreased compared to—
the average annual sales or production for the article or service during the 24-month period preceding that 12-month period, or
the average annual sales or production for the article or service during the 36-month period preceding that 12-month period, and
increases of imports of articles or services like or directly competitive with articles which are produced or services which are supplied by such firm contributed importantly to such total or partial separation, or threat thereof, and to such decline in sales or production.
For purposes of paragraph (1)(C)—
The term “contributed importantly” means a cause which is important but not necessarily more important than any other cause.
Any firm which engages in exploration or drilling for oil or natural gas shall be considered to be a firm producing oil or natural gas.
Any firm that engages in exploration or drilling for oil or natural gas, or otherwise produces oil or natural gas, shall be considered to be producing articles directly competitive with imports of oil and with imports of natural gas.