US: Year-long refrigerator fracas ends in favor of Samsung, LG

19/04/2012 12:00 - 391 Views

By a unanimous 5-0 vote, the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled today in favor of Samsung and LG in a year-long anti-dumping case initiated by Whirlpool. The decision came as somewhat of a surprise after the U.S. Department of Commerce found last month that the South Korean manufacturers were illegally dumping certain foreign-made refrigerators in the U.S. market by selling them at prices below their fair market value. As a result of today's decision, duties ranging from 5 to 30 percent will not take effect.

That could keep refrigerator costs down, including on several popular French-door models that do well in Consumer Reports' refrigerator Ratings. However, Whirlpool insists the commission's decision is bad news for the U.S marketplace. "Of course we're extremely disappointed by today's ruling and the implications it has for our U.S. production of bottom-mount refrigerators," Marc Bitzer, president of Whirlpool North America, said in a statement. "We believe the facts clearly demonstrated that dumped imports of bottom-mount refrigerators from South Korea and Mexico are causing injury to the U.S. industry."

Samsung and LG, in turn, both welcomed the decision. "Whirlpool's action in bringing this case simply resulted in a lengthy investigation that has been costly to the U.S. taxpayer, the result of which has been to prove that Samsung is in compliance with U.S. trade law," Samsung said in a statement.

Apr 17, 2012 3:15 PM
Source: news.consumerreports.org