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| U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event at the Whirlpool Corporation manufacturing plant in Clyde, Ohio, Thursday. AP/Yonhap |
By Kim Hyun-bin
U.S. President Donald Trump has boasted that his administration's imposition of a 50 percent tariff on Samsung and LG products helped domestic companies such as Whirlpool increase their market share.
"I proudly signed the order to impose a 50 percent tariff on all foreign-made washing machines," Trump said during a visit to a Whirlpool factory in Clyde, Ohio, Thursday, where the company produces 20,000 washers a day.
"As a result, Whirlpool's nine factories across the United States were soon thriving like never before. And every one of the products is proudly inscribed with that glorious phrase, 'Made in the USA.'"
This year marks Whirlpool's 109th anniversary. The once world-leading home appliance maker started production at the Clyde plant in 1952, but has faced some challenges over the past decade as foreign-made machines from LG and Samsung threatened American-made products. The Trump administration branded this "predatory" dumping.
"In 2013, the U.S. International Trade Commission found your competitors from Korea and other countries guilty of dumping washers into the U.S. market and ordered them to pay anti-dumping duties as high as 79 percent," Trump said.?
"But rather than pay these very high tariffs, LG and Samsung relocated production to another country ― a country called China.?Have you ever heard of it?? And the last administration did nothing as they kept on dumping washers into the U.S. market with impunity."
Instead of strongly criticizing Samsung and LG Electronics, Trump used the visit to boast of his achievements before the U.S. Presidential election scheduled for November 3, emphasizing he fixed the trade imbalance with South Korea.
Samsung and LG Electronics each operate washing machine factories in South Carolina and Texas, employing workers from the region. But Trump did not mention the positive effects of the Korean firms operating in the U.S.
He also took full credit for raising the tariffs and criticized his political opponents and the previous Obama administration for "retreating" from them.
"For eight years, Whirlpool begged the Obama-Biden administration, who did nothing, to protect American workers from the flagrant dumping of foreign washers and dryers into America," Trump said.?"But your cries for help fell on deaf ears."
