HIGH POINT — Several U.S. manufacturers say they expect to soon get portions of $152 million in antidumping import duties that have been held back due to pending litigation by other U.S. producers seeking the funds.

They said the checks could come as early as mid-April, barring any rulings by federal agencies or courts to reverse recent actions in the case.

In Securities and Exchange Commission filings this week, Stanley Furniture said it could receive about $40 million, La-Z-Boy $16 million and Bassett Furniture $9 million. Stanley added it also could receive an additional $2.7 million in such funds related to a different issue.

The money was collected from import duties on Chinese wooden bedroom furniture enacted in early 2005. The duties were the result of an antidumping case brought by 20 U.S. manufacturers, or petitioners, in 2003-04.

Duties collected before Oct. 1, 2007, were distributed to petitioners under a federal clause known as the Byrd Amendment, which has been repealed. Those funds now go to the U.S. Treasury.

A portion of the pre-cutoff distributions, totaling $152 million, has been held back for about five years due to lawsuits filed by non-petitioners Ethan Allen, Ashley Furniture, Furniture Brands International and Standard Furniture, who claimed a right to distributions.

Recently, non-petitioners have sought an injunction from the Court of International Trade to prevent distribution, asking U.S. Customs and Border Protection to retain the funds until its appeals were resolved.

That request was denied but the appeals to will continue to be heard in federal appellate courts, said an attorney with Mowry & Grimson involved in the case.

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