Trade Adjustment Allowance

If you lost your job because China’s imports are cheaper than the stuff your unionized American factory is pumping out, you might be eligible for trade adjustment allowance.

Trade adjustment allowance is a special federal service to provide unemployment relief for workers negatively impacted by globalization. In the U.S., workers who are let go can get unemployment compensation, but eventually it runs out. That’s when, for certain workers impacted from global competition, trade adjustment allowance kicks in.

The U.S. Department of Labor determines which groups have been negatively impacted from foreign imports, and doles out the trade adjustment allowance accordingly. This is thanks to the Federal Trade Act’s program: the Trade Adjustment Assistance program.