WASHINGTON — U.S. Customs and Border Protection has advised domestic manufacturers that didn't support antidumping petitions in their respective industries to keep filing claims to seek duties collected under the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act, otherwise known as the Byrd Amendment.

Customs said these companies should file claims despite a U.S. Supreme Court decision not to hear an appeal filed by ball bearing producer SKF USA, which was seeking to collect a share of the import duties as a non-petitioner.

In a separate case involving Chinese wood bedroom furniture imports, several U.S. furniture manufacturers that are non-petitioners have filed claims. Companies that have filed include Ashley Furniture, Ethan Allen, Furniture Brands International, Kimball Furniture, Solid Comfort, Standard Furniture and Witmer Inds.

An estimated $137 million in collected duties has been set aside for the non-petitioners in the wood bedroom case, in case the claims are ultimately granted.

The latest distribution of duties would be for fiscal year 2010 and would affect disbursements that apply to import shipments made before Oct. 1, 2007, but haven't been processed yet.

CDSOA monies collected before Oct. 1, 2007, have so far been paid only to petitioners, or domestic producers that supported antidumping cases in their respective industries. Monies collected on shipments made after that date go to the U.S. government because Congress repealed the Byrd Amendment, due to World Trade Organization concerns about the provision's fairness.

SKF and others have argued that the requirement to have supported an antidumping initiative before receiving CDSOA monies violates a company's right to free speech. But the Supreme Court's decision not to hear the SKF case leaves standing an earlier ruling by a federal Court of Appeals, which sided against SKF in saying the company's constitutional rights were not violated.

However, Customs said there are other pending cases that could affect the outcome for non-petitioning domestic producers. For that reason, it is setting aside a portion of the duties collected in various antidumping cases, including the wood bedroom furniture case. A statement in the Federal Register this week said the agency "will determine the proper recipients of these funds once certain legal issues are resolved."

Both petitioning and non-petitioning producers have 60 days, or until Aug. 2, to file a claim for the CDSOA monies.

For more information on the CDSOA distribution schedule, contact Melissa Kurth at (317) 614-4462.