A federal program designed to help struggling U.S. manufacturers is running out of funding, and any hopes of resurrecting it hinges on a break in the Congressional stalemate.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms (TAAF) is designed to help U.S. manufacturing companies impacted by imports. TAAF technical assistance help these U.S. firms develop and implement projects to strengthen operations, expand markets and increase profitability, thereby increasing U.S. jobs. TAAF was created by congress in 1974, but statutory authorization of the program expired on June 30, 2022.
“It’s literally an Act of Congress that puts this program in play,” says Mark Allen, contract project manager for the Mid-America Trade Adjustment Assistance Center, one of 11 regional partners that help administer the program. “TAAF has been a part of trade bills for the last 40-plus years. But there are two legislative actions needed. The first is for Congress to appropriate funds for it, which has happened every year since it first started, until 2025. The second is that Congress needs to reauthorize the TAAF program so it can once again assist new manufacturing firms. Congress essentially has to turn the lights on by passing a bill that allows the regional Trade Adjustment Assistance Centers (TAACs) to assist new manufacturing firms by cost sharing their improvement projects.”
Click here to see more...