The United States on Wednesday imposed anti-subsidy duties on large home washers made by South Korean manufacturers, slapping the largest by far on Daewoo Electronics.
After a preliminary probe, the Commerce Department said it had determined that imports of large residential clothes washers from South Korea unfairly benefited from government subsidies.
Cash deposits will be collected by U.S. Customs in an amount based on the preliminary subsidy rates.
Daewoo Electronics was the hardest hit, with a rate of 70.58%, while Samsung Electronics (IW 1000/12) was at 1.20%.
LG Electronics (IW 1000/74) would not be affected because its 0.22% subsidy rate is minimal, the department said.
All other South Korean producers and exporters received a subsidy rate of 1.20%.
The complaint was filed by Whirlpool (IW 500/59) in December.
The Commerce Department estimated the value of the imports of washers from South Korea totaled $568.5 million in 2011.
Excluded from the sanctions were stacked washer-dryers and commercial washers designed for the "pay per use" market, it said.
A final determination on the subsidies is due in August.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2012
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