31 companies, 1 union seeking duty money
By Heath E. Combs -- Furniture Today, September 23, 2007
High Point — Several new companies have joined the list of parties seeking a share of antidumping duties that will be distributed this year.
The duties, collected on wood bedroom furniture imported from China, are distributed through the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act, often referred to as the Byrd Amendment.
Byrd Amendment funds go to petitioning companies that filed pricing complaints with the U.S. Department of Commerce. In addition, ongoing appeals in cases before the U.S. Court of International Trade will determine whether companies that weren't part of original antidumping duty petitions can receive those funds.
For the 2007 fiscal year, 32 parties — including 23 original petitioners — filed certifications with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect Byrd Amendment monies.
Companies that were not original petitioners seeking duties this year are Ashley Furniture, Furniture Brands International, HM Operating Inc., Kimball Furniture Group, Oakwood Interiors, Thornwood Furniture Mfg., Witmer Inds. and Standard Furniture Mfg.
In addition, one union — the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union — also filed a certification for disbursement of the funds.
Last year, the additional companies, beyond the original petitioners, that filed for certifications did not collect. FBI and Standard filed suit to collect the monies, tying up about $10 million, or roughly a third of the total funds available for disbursement.
Their suits are awaiting litigation in the Court of International Trade. Bernhardt, Progressive and Thornwood's claims either dropped their requests or saw them denied.
Last year, 28 companies applied for the funds. The 23 original petitioners received a total of $21.9 million. When the preliminary amount of funds available for the 2006 fiscal year disbursement was made available last spring, the total was put at $171,022.
This year, the preliminary amount for the 2007 fiscal year was set at $57.5 million.
U.S. Customs considers Byrd disbursements
06/08/2008Ashley seeks share of antidumping duties
08/04/2007$35.1 million in Byrd money disbursed
12/07/2007Customs disburses $35.8M
01/25/2009
