“This industry has been brutalized by plummeting prices, resulting in mill curtailments and closures across the West and into Canada. Your grant is part of the reason we are still a viable industry player and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.”
Loren Rose, Comptroller
Pyramid Mountain Lumber
Seeley lake, Montana
Press
Some Trade Adjustment Programs Are Very Productive
Regarding your editorial "Free Trade Foul-Ups" (Feb. 9) and the statement that "TAA is turning into one more open-ended entitlement": There needs to be a clarification. I am on the board of directors of the Northwest Trade Adjustment Assistance Center. We provide trade adjustment assistance to companies that have been injured by imports.
Because trade adjustment assistance works at the micro level helping the company to develop a strategic plan to adjust to import competition, we have been able to save 80% of the companies that have entered the program since 1984. The cost to the U.S. taxpayer has been only $16 million. Read more...
Businesses Battle Overseas Competition
The demand that Fresh Air Manufacturing Co. (FAMCO) owner Marty Artis sees for his new ventures isn’t much better than the recession-battered appetite for his core wholesale business, but he’s pleased anyway.
“It’s new revenue to me,” he said. “We have the same number of remodels and housing starts. I’m just closer to more new buyers.” Read more...
The Truth About China’s 'Dumping' Practices
If you’re like me, your eyes tend to glaze over while reading stories about dumping disputes between trading partners. Sure, you know what dumping is – the practice of selling raw materials or finished goods overseas at prices below one’s production costs, or what’s being charged at home. But what are the calculations used to determine whether a country is dumping? And what are the underlying numbers of any particular case? The newspaper articles never say. You just take it on faith that the exporting country is engaged in predatory pricing, or that the target country is playing political football. Let the World Trade Organization sort it out. Read more...
Tamarack Mill Finds Its Way In Tough Timber Market
Idaho’s timber market is at a near-perfect storm.
General market and overall economic conditions of the past three years have placed harvest and production levels well below normal, closing several mills across the Northwest.
“We have bled pretty hard for the last couple of years, and now we’re just treading water,” said Tamarack Mill LLC Vice President Rodney Krogh. The company, which operates mills in central and north central Idaho, has been in business for more than 40 years. Read more...
Federal Grants Help Alaska Companies Gain Competitive Edge
Federal grants are now available to help Alaska companies compete in changing global markets. Congress has again funded Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) programs aimed at assisting companies that are losing sales to foreign imports, or have been forced to lay off workers or cut back on hours.
Eligible companies can receive up to $75,000 in grants for a wide range of projects of their choice to increase profitability and save jobs. The program cannot, however, be used for equipment purchases. Read more...
Swanson Group Awarded Federal Matching Grant
The Swanson Group has been selected to receive $100,000 from a federal grant meant to protect jobs in Oregon's struggling timber industry.
The money, from a Trade Adjustment Assistance grant issued through the federal Economic Development Administration, will be used to create a new market strategy and to improve efficiency through the use of advanced computer software. It will also pay for training costs.
The new software will give Swanson the ability to evaluate each individual log to determine the best use. That will help the company maximize efficiency and boost revenues. Read more...
TAA To The Rescue
Is competition from foreign imports biting into your business? Trade Adjustment Assistance programs are designed to help American workers and businesses become more competitive. Three TAA programs have been funded again, under the U.S. Departments of Labor, Agriculture and Commerce.
“Salmon, pollock, crab – we can find imports coming in for just about any seafood, so therefore, they would qualify,” said Gary Kuhar, director of the nonprofit Northwest TAA Center, which administers funds for the Commerce program in five states, including Alaska. “Our program focuses on helping the firm, and secondarily, saving jobs. We’re the only program that not only helps develop a strategic plan, we implement the plan for them,” he added. NWTAAC also handles all the paperwork and federal bureaucracy. Read more...
Agency Helps Fife Manufacturer Compete Globally
Competing on world markets can present unusual challenges for American manufacturers. Just ask Lisa Chissus, president of Cascade Plastics, which produces plastic parts in its Fife plant.
“There are situations where quotes for the molded parts from off-shore competition have matched the material costs for us,” she says. “We can only conclude they are being subsidized by their governments. We adhere to environmental and safety standards required in the United States, whereas our global competitors do not face the same requirements.” Read more...
Help Is Out There For Seafood Firms Impacted By Imports
Firms involved in commercial fisheries that have seen a detrimental economic impact in sales, production and employment due to imported seafood may be eligible for federal aid.
The federal Trade Adjustment Assistance program, with a national budget of $13 million, helps commercial fishermen - who can tie their economic woes to increasing imports - to develop a competitive marketing, production and quality-control strategy to compete successfully against imports, says Gary Kuhar of the Trade Task Group in Seattle. Read more...
Alaskans Not Keen On Trade Assistance Grant Programs
From seafood businesses to lumber companies to ulu makers, trade assistance grants and programs help American businesses and entrepreneurs compete with cheaper, foreign imports. But it's been tough to find takers in Alaska.
"It's a good program, but our biggest problem is finding people to take advantage of it," said Gary Kuhar, director of the Northwest Trade Adjustment Assistance Center, which administers funds for five Northwest states through the Economic Development arm of the U.S. Commerce Department." This is a very independent part of the country and unlike other places where they line up for this program, we have to go out and actually find people who are interested." Read more...
TAA Funding Snagged In Congress As Opponents Question Its Value
A federal trade-assistance program that helps companies impacted by offshore competition could shut down by the end of the year if Congress votes not to renew it.
That program is the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act, and dozens of regional firms have used it in recent years to help workers find new jobs or train employees to be more competitive. Read more...