Korea to file WTO complaint over US tariffs move on washers

By Park Si-soo

South Korea will formally complain to the World Trade Organization (WTO) over a U.S. decision to slap tariffs on imported washing machines and solar panels, including products from Samsung and LG.

The Seoul government on Tuesday denounced the measures as “excessive” and “regrettable.”

The move came one day after U.S. President Donald Trump approved International Trade Commission recommendations to impose safeguard tariffs on imported large residential washing machines and imported solar cells and modules.

“It is clear that the latest safeguard measures would violate the WTO rules,” South Korea’s trade minister Kim Hyun-chong said at a meeting with industry officials. “We will actively respond to protectionist measures.”