WTO Allows South Korea $84.4 Million in Retaliatory Duties Against the United States (February 8, 2019) [1]
On February 8, 2019, a World Trade Organization (WTO) arbitration panel issued a decision [3] to authorize South Korea to impose annual retaliatory duties worth $84.8 million on the United States after challenging U.S. anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs on washing machines. The arbitration panel stated that South Korea “shall be entitled to impose suspension of concessions or other obligations” in the amount of $74.4 million for U.S. anti-dumping duty measures and $10.41 million for countervailing duty measures in the year following the decision. South Korea initiated proceedings on the matter in 2013 after the U.S. imposed anti-subsidy duties on washers made by Samsung Electronics Co, LG Electronics Inc. and Daewoo Electronics Co. In 2016, South Korea won a ruling on the matter, but returned to the WTO to complain that the United States had not complied with the WTO’s recommendations and rulings within a reasonable period of time. Korea had initially requested $711 million in retaliatory duties, but the ruling also provided a sanctions formula South Korea could apply in the future if the United States imposed similar tariffs in breach of WTO rules.