An official website of the United States government. 
News Release 17-170
Inv. No(s). 201-TA-076
Contact: Peg O'Laughlin, 202-205-1819
The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) today announced the remedy recommendations that it will forward to the President in its global safeguard investigation regarding imports of large residential washers.
Today’s action follows the Commission’s October 5, 2017, determination that large residential washers are being imported into the United States in such increased quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious injury to the domestic industry producing an article like or directly competitive with the imported article. Information about that determination can be found here: https://www.usitc.gov/press_room/news_release/2017/er1005ll841.htm.
The Commissioners unanimously recommend that the President impose a tariff-rate quota (TRQ) on imports of large residential washers for a duration of three years. For U.S. imports of large residential washers that exceed 1.2 million units, the Commissioners recommend a tariff rate of 50 percent ad valorem, in addition to the current rate of duty. They recommend that the in-quota volume remain constant throughout and that the above-quota tariff rate decrease by five percentage points during each year of the remedy period. Chairman Schmidtlein and Commissioner Williamson additionally recommend an in-quota tariff rate of 20 percent ad valorem, which would decrease to 18 percent in the second year of the remedy period and 15 percent in the third year of the period, in addition to the current rate of duty. Vice Chairman Johanson and Commissioner Broadbent do not recommend an in-quota tariff rate for large residential washers.
The Commissioners also unanimously recommend that the President impose a separate TRQ on imports of covered parts of large residential washers for a duration of three years. For U.S. imports of covered parts that exceed 50,000 units, they recommend a tariff rate of 50 percent ad valorem, in addition to the current rate of duty. They recommend that the in-quota volume increase by 20,000 units in each year of the remedy period, and that the above-quota tariff rate decrease by five percentage points each year.
A summary of the Commissioners’ recommended actions is included in the table below. The statements of the Commissioners regarding the remedy recommendations are attached.
|
Summary of Commissioners’ Recommended Actions |
|||
|
|
Year 1 |
Year 2 |
Year 3 |
|
Large Residential Washers: TRQ |
|||
|
In-Quota Volume Level |
1.2 million units |
1.2 million units |
1.2 million units |
|
Above-Quota Tariff Rate |
50% |
45% |
40% |
|
In-Quota Tariff Rate (Schmidtlein & Williamson) |
20% |
18% |
15% |
|
In-Quota Tariff Rate (Johanson & Broadbent) |
0% |
0% |
0% |
|
Covered Parts: TRQ |
|||
|
In-Quota Volume Level |
50,000 units |
70,000 units |
90,000 units |
|
Above-Quota Tariff Rate |
50% |
45% |
40% |
Having made negative findings with respect to imports from Canada and Mexico under section 311(a) of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, the Commissioners recommend that imports from Canada and Mexico be excluded from the above TRQs and increased rates of duty. The Commissioners also recommend that the above TRQs and increased rates of duty not apply to imports from Australia, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Jordan, Korea, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Singapore, or to imports from the beneficiary countries under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act.
The Commission will forward its report, which will contain its injury determination, remedy recommendations, certain additional findings, and the basis for them, to the President by December 4, 2017.
The President, not the Commission, will make the final decision whether to provide relief to the U.S. industry and the type and amount of relief.
The Commission's public report to the President Large Residential Washers, Inv. No. TA-201-076, USITC Publication 4745, December 2017, will be available by December 26, 2017; when available, it may be accessed on the USITC website at: http://pubapps.usitc.gov/applications/publogs/qry_publication_loglist.asp.
STATEMENTS OF THE COMMISSIONERS