The CDSOA (see our CDSOA section for more information) essentially takes all of the antidumping and countervailing duties collected by U.S. Customs and sets them aside for distribution to "affected domestic producers" who participated in the complaints which resulted in the duties.

While the World Trade Organization and several important U.S. trading partners have come out strongly against the CDSOA as an improper domestic subsidy, the U.S. is reluctant to repeal the contested act. So it remains in place for at least another year.

The amounts paid out this year have not yet been revealed by Customs or the companies involved. However, eBearing has researched the anticipated payouts and calculated the total funds available for disbursement under the most likely payout schedules. The process should help you to understand where the money comes from and in what proportions.

In the U.S. Government's fiscal 2002 (June 1, 2001 through May 31, 2002), Customs reported that it collected approximately $270 million in countervailing and antidumping duties. On a product/country basis, amounts collected for the year varied from as little as $0.07 (chrome lug nuts from Taiwan) to as much as $67.6 million (candles from China).

For the approximately 37 antidumping and countervailing duty orders involving bearings, we calculated the total collected as approximately $93.1 million. This is the amount potentially available for claim by Timken and Torrington. Note, too, that almost 35% of all dumping duties collected by the United States involve bearings.

By mid-September, the bearing companies must petition U.S. Customs to collect what they believe is their share of that $93.1 million. Customs then reviews the claims, allocates payouts based on their own calculations, and writes checks to those companies.

Following is the list of cases, descriptions, companies involved and approximate dollar amounts collected and available for claim. In a few cases, information is missing or incomplete because U.S. Customs does not make the information publicly available in any clear or concise way. Where "Eligible to Collect" is blank, those are usually Timken and Torrington. Please also note that where Timken is listed it often refers to the Miniature Precision Bearing (MPB) division.

Note these are the maximum funds potentially available for distribution; Customs will be not pay out the entire $93.1 million to Timken and Torrington.

A front page article in The Wall Street Journal on December 5, 2002 carried an in-depth analysis of the CDSOA. It covered the original intent, impact, future, and other aspects of the legislation. In addition, the article compared Torrington's and Timken's payments to those intended for the steel industry -- the industry originally expected to be helped by the CDSOA. As a steel manufacturer, Timken is in fact also eligible for CDSOA payments under several other steel categories.