U.S. CODE

U.S. Code

§ 2356. Annual report on trade adjustment assistance for firms

(a) In general

Not later than December 15, 2009, and each year thereafter, the Secretary of Commerce shall prepare a report containing data regarding the trade adjustment assistance for firms program provided for in chapter 3 of title II of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2341 et seq.) for the preceding fiscal year. The data shall include the following:

(1) The number of firms that inquired about the program.

(2) The number of petitions filed under section 251 [19 U.S.C. 2341].

(3) The number of petitions certified and denied.

(4) The average time for processing petitions.

(5) The number of petitions filed and firms certified for each congressional district of the United States.

(6) The number of firms that received assistance in preparing their petitions.

(7) The number of firms that received assistance developing business recovery plans.

(8) The number of business recovery plans approved and denied by the Secretary of Commerce.

(9) Sales, employment, and productivity at each firm participating in the program at the time of certification.

(10) Sales, employment, and productivity at each firm upon completion of the program and each year for the 2-year period following completion.

(11) The financial assistance received by each firm participating in the program.

(12) The financial contribution made by each firm participating in the program.

(13) The types of technical assistance included in the business recovery plans of firms participating in the program.

(14) The number of firms leaving the program before completing the project or projects in their business recovery plans and the reason the project was not completed.

(b) Classification of data

To the extent possible, in collecting and reporting the data described in subsection (a), the Secretary shall classify the data by intermediary organization, State, and national totals.

The Secretary of Commerce shall—

(1) submit the report described in subsection (a) to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives; and

(2) publish the report in the Federal Register and on the website of the Department of Commerce.

(d) Protection of confidential information

The Secretary of Commerce may not release information described in subsection (a) that the Secretary considers to be confidential business information unless the person submitting the confidential business information had notice, at the time of submission, that such information would be released by the Secretary, or such person subsequently consents to the release of the information. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit the Secretary from providing such confidential business information to a court in camera or to another party under a protective order issued by a court.

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