U.S. Slaps Tariffs on Washing Machine Imports
By Bernie Becker
07/30/12
07/30/12
The Commerce Department, in a preliminary Monday decision, announced that it was setting tariffs as high as 82 percent on large washing machines made in South Korea and Mexico.
Spurred on by a complaint from Whirlpool, the department’s International Trade Commission placed anti-dumping duties on washers by Daewoo, LG and Samsung.
Daewoo received an 82 percent duty for its Korean-produced washers, while LG and Samsung were hit with tariffs of 12.2 percent and 9.6 percent respectively.
Samsung and Whirlpool subsidiaries in Mexico were also given 72 percent duties.
In all, South Korea and Mexico combined to produce around $1 billion worth of large residential washing machines that were exported to the U.S. – $434 million from Mexico, and $569 million from Korea.
Whirlpool had complained last year that rival manufacturers were selling washers below market value in the U.S., and receiving subisidies from their home countries.
In a Monday statement, a Whirlpool spokeswoman said that the Michigan-based manufacturer felt vindicated by the Commerce Department decision.
“Whirlpool is committed to building products in the regions where they are sold and investing in our U.S. manufacturing presence,” said the spokeswoman, Kristine Vernier. “Our investments will continue as long as we can compete on a level playing field, with all of our foreign competitors playing by the established rules.”
Whirlpool also said that it had stopped shipping washing machines from Mexico to the U.S., and expects to make close to 100 percent of the large washers it sells in the U.S. in 2013 in Ohio.
Samsung also said that it had stopped producing washers in Mexico, and said that the government’s decision was based on a faulty methodology.
“Samsung strongly disagrees with this finding, and it is confident that once the final phase of the investigation is completed, the Department of Commerce will determine that Samsung has not engaged in dumping and is in compliance with U.S. trade laws,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.
The federal government is expected to make its final decision in the case in December.
Daewoo received an 82 percent duty for its Korean-produced washers, while LG and Samsung were hit with tariffs of 12.2 percent and 9.6 percent respectively.
Samsung and Whirlpool subsidiaries in Mexico were also given 72 percent duties.
In all, South Korea and Mexico combined to produce around $1 billion worth of large residential washing machines that were exported to the U.S. – $434 million from Mexico, and $569 million from Korea.
Whirlpool had complained last year that rival manufacturers were selling washers below market value in the U.S., and receiving subisidies from their home countries.
In a Monday statement, a Whirlpool spokeswoman said that the Michigan-based manufacturer felt vindicated by the Commerce Department decision.
“Whirlpool is committed to building products in the regions where they are sold and investing in our U.S. manufacturing presence,” said the spokeswoman, Kristine Vernier. “Our investments will continue as long as we can compete on a level playing field, with all of our foreign competitors playing by the established rules.”
Whirlpool also said that it had stopped shipping washing machines from Mexico to the U.S., and expects to make close to 100 percent of the large washers it sells in the U.S. in 2013 in Ohio.
Samsung also said that it had stopped producing washers in Mexico, and said that the government’s decision was based on a faulty methodology.
“Samsung strongly disagrees with this finding, and it is confident that once the final phase of the investigation is completed, the Department of Commerce will determine that Samsung has not engaged in dumping and is in compliance with U.S. trade laws,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.
The federal government is expected to make its final decision in the case in December.
Source: The Hill
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