Whirlpool’s chief executive says a decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission is a big win for workers at its washing machine factory in northern Ohio.
The commission ruled last week that Samsung and LG made washing machines in China and then sold them in the United States at less than fair value. The accusation being that they were actually sold at less than cost.
The ruling means the companies must start paying duties on washers made in China and imported to the United States.
Both Samsung and LG say they disagree with the decision.
Whirlpool chief executive Jeff Fettig says it’s a gratifying win for the 3,000 employees at the company’s factory in the Sandusky County city of Clyde.
And that all sounds great to many people we’re sure but with the political climates changing, is it a good thing for consumers or is it protectionism that will not only protect local jobs but might also force up prices?
There’s really no problem here (we don’t think) as it does indeed look as if both Samsung and LG were dumping products at lower than cost prices but under the new administration in the US after Donald Trump gets in, who knows what will happen. After all he’s a big promoter of making product locally in America so stuff like this could become common over the next few years, even if it might not be completely justified it might help to make AMerica great again in some people’s opinion.
Samsung might be a tad more concerned than LG on this though given recent events with it’s exploding washing machines!
The lesson here we guess is that the same kind of thing could, potentially, happen in the UK after the Brexit vote although of course, we hardly make any appliances here with the vast bulk of them being imported so, it shouldn’t be as big a potential problem. We hope.
There again, some might argue that dumping already happens in the UK and Europe from Turkey but we’ll leave that alone for the time being.
The whirlpool press release is as below:
BENTON HARBOR, Mich., Jan. 10, 2017 — Today the U.S. International Trade Commission unanimously ruled that Samsung and LG caused injury to the U.S. appliance industry by selling their China-produced washing machines in the U.S. for less than they cost to make. Whirlpool Corporation reports that this vote is the final step in the government’s investigation it initiated in December 2015. Whirlpool filed the case to help ensure free trade so U.S. manufacturers can continue to create jobs, invest in new facilities and undertake research to drive innovation.
Today’s vote follows a U.S. Department of Commerce ruling last month that Samsung and LG violated U.S. and international trade laws by dumping clothes washers from China into the United States. Samsung and LG now must pay antidumping duties at the substantial rates set by the DOC ─ margins of 52.51 percent for Samsung and 32.12 percent for LG.
“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 Jeff Fettig, chairman and chief executive officer of Whirlpool Corp. “The government made the right decision today, affirming that Samsung and LG’s long-term pattern of serial dumping injures American appliance manufacturers and threatens U.S. jobs. By enforcing and applying trade remedies that help ensure fair competition, the government supports a solid U.S. manufacturing base and continued investments in innovation that improve the lives of consumers.”
This ruling comes just four years after the government found Samsung and LG guilty of dumping washers from factories in Korea and Mexico. Following that 2013 ruling, the companies moved their washer production to China in an effort to circumvent the orders.
