Chapter 6: Trade Adjustment Assistance

Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) is a group of programs that provide federal assistance to parties that meet certain eligibility criteria to demonstrate that they have been adversely affected by trade. TAA programs are authorized by the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, and were last reauthorized by the Trade Adjustment Assistance Reauthorization Act of 2015 (TAARA; Title IV of P.L. 114-27).

The largest TAA program, TAA for Workers (TAAW), provides federal assistance to groups of workers who have become separated or partially separated from their employment or have been threatened with total or partial separation under certain circumstances related to trade. The largest components of the TAAW program are (1) funding for career services and training to prepare workers for new occupations and (2) income support for workers who are enrolled in an eligible training program and have exhausted their unemployment compensation. The TAAW program is administered at the federal level by the Department of Labor.

TAA programs also are authorized for firms and farmers that have been adversely affected by imports. TAA for Firms, administered by the Department of Commerce, supports trade-impacted businesses by providing technical assistance in developing business recovery plans and by providing matching funds to implement those plans. The TAA for Farmers program was reauthorized by TAARA but the program has not received an appropriation since FY2011.

The eligibility and benefit provisions of TAARA are authorized to continue through June 30, 2021. After that, the program is set to revert to a more limited set of eligibility and benefit provisions for one year before it is scheduled to phase out.

Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports

For more programmatic information, please see reports published by the Congressional Research Service.

CRS works exclusively for the United States Congress, providing policy and legal analysis to Committees and Members of both the House and Senate, regardless of party affiliation.

Legislative History

There have been no significant legislative changes to TAA during the 115th Congress. For prior history, please see prior editions of the Green Book.

This page was prepared October 2018 for the 2018 version of the House Ways and Means Committee Green Book.