U.S. Trade Officials Back Whirlpool Washer Dumping Complaint
January 10 2017 - 01:54PM
Dow Jones News
By Andrew Tangel
U.S. trade regulators ruled Tuesday that Whirlpool Corp.'s South
Korean rivals unfairly harmed the Michigan-based appliance maker by
selling washing machines in the U.S. at artificially low
prices.
The decision will allow the U.S. Department of Commerce to
continue imposing tariffs on large residential washing machines
that Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. manufacture in
China. Whirlpool first complained in 2015 that LG and Samsung were
selling washing machines in the U.S. for less than they cost to
produce, a tactic known as "dumping."
"This is a gratifying win for American manufacturing,
particularly our more than 3,000 employees at our factory in Clyde,
Ohio, who make clothes washers for American consumers," said
Whirlpool Chairman and Chief Executive Jeff Fettig.
But the company has acknowledged the tariffs will likely have a
limited effect because LG and Samsung have shifted production of
U.S.-bound washing machines out of China, the only country affected
by the ruling.
Samsung and LG have acknowledged they are producing washing
machines in Vietnam and Thailand. LG said it was disappointed with
the ruling and disputed the U.S. International Trade Commission's
findings.
"LG's success in the home laundry segment in the United States
has been the result of its world-class innovations and commitment
to providing U.S. consumers with state-of-the-art washers," the
company said.
A Samsung spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to a request
for comment.
The Commerce Department said in December it would impose
"antidumping" margins of 52.51% for Samsung and 32.12% for LG for
their washing machines imported from China. In such cases, the
Commerce Department investigates the trade complaints and imposes
duties that continue as long as the trade commission finds that
domestic companies such as Whirlpool were unfairly harmed by the
imports in question.
Whirlpool executives told trade officials that competing against
the artificially cheap products created operating losses and
prompted them to forego investments in innovations and hold off on
hiring additional workers.
Whirlpool shares were up about 1.2% to $183.70 in recent Tuesday
trading.
Write to Andrew Tangel at Andrew.Tangel@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 10, 2017 13:39 ET (18:39 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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