Benton Harbor-based Whirlpool Corp. has filed an antidumping petition with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission to stop Samsung and LG Electronics Inc. from selling washers in the United States for less than what they actually cost to make.
“Simply put, beginning in 2013, Samsung and LG replaced their dumped washers from Korea and Mexico with dumped washers from China,” says Marc Bitzer, president and COO of Whirlpool. “Since then, Samsung and LG have blatantly ignored a previous U.S. government order by continuing to dump washers into the United States.”
Bitzer says the practice of dumping is harming American washer manufacturers and threatening U.S. manufacturing jobs. He says the current petition covers full-size top-load and full-size front-load clothes washers. It also includes washer components for large residential clothing washer cabinets, tubs, and baskets/drums.
Bitzer says Whirlpool filed the petition seeking enforcement of U.S. and international trade laws to even the playing field for U.S. appliance manufactures.
In 2013, the U.S. government found that Samsung and LG were unlawfully dumping large residential clothing washers exported to the United States from production facilities in South Korea and Mexico. In response, the companies moved their washer production to China.
Whirlpool has 22,000 U.S. employees, including 15,000 manufacturing workers in nine plants across the country.
Bitzer says a decision is expected from the U.S. Department of Commerce a year from now, while a determination is expected from the U.S. International Trade Commission by January 2017.
