WTO confirms S. Korea's win in dispute over U.S. washer safeguard tariffs

▲ A Feb. 9, 2022, file photo of washers made by South Korean companies being sold at a shopping mall in central Seoul (Yonhap)

S Korea-US safeguard

WTO confirms S. Korea's win in dispute over U.S. washer safeguard tariffs

GENEVA, April 28 (Yonhap) -- The World Trade Organization (WTO) on Friday confirmed a ruling in favor of South Korea in a dispute over the United States' safeguard measures on large-sized residential washers and parts, officials said.

The WTO's dispute settlement body endorsed a report issued by an appeals panel in February that it could not see any violation of WTO rules by South Korea in all of the five core issues surrounding the matter, South Korea's Permanent Mission in Geneva said.

In May 2018, the Seoul government lodged the complaint, three months after the then Donald Trump administration began imposing a 20 percent tariff on the yearly quota of 1.2 million imported units and a 50 percent tariff on washing machines beyond the number.

The measure was extended in 2021 for another two years, with the tariffs on up to 1.2 million units standing at 14 percent and on the excess amount 30 percent. For components of washing machines, the figure came to 30 percent.

The measure ended in February.

In the report, the WTO panel said the U.S. did not provide a "reasoned and adequate explanation" that the import of Korean-made products "depressed and suppressed prices of the domestic like product."

The U.S. could have challenged the ruling but decided not to do so after talks with South Korea.

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