Import Restrictions on Clothes Washers End; ITC to Review Impact

U.S. safeguard tariff-rate quotas on imports of large residential washing machines and parts thereof expired Feb. 7, 2023, and the International Trade Commission has launched an investigation of how effective these safeguards were.

The safeguards were first imposed in January 2018 and most recently (for the period Feb. 8, 2022, through Feb. 7, 2023) consisted of a 14 percent duty on the first 1.2 million units of covered washers (those provided for under HTSUS 8450.11.00 and 8540.20.00) imported per year and a 30 percent tariff on all subsequent imports. There was also a 30 percent tariff on covered washing machine parts (those provided for under HTSUS 8450.90.20 and 8450.90.60) and a limit of 110,000 units of exempt parts for this period. Covered goods from Canada and developing countries that are members of the World Trade Organization (provided certain criteria are met) were exempt from these TRQs.

The ITC has now initiated a statutorily-required investigation to evaluate the effectiveness of these safeguards in helping the domestic industry adjust to import competition.

Those wishing to participate in this investigation as parties must notify the ITC by March 15. A hearing will be held June 1, pre-hearing briefs are due by May 24, and post-hearing briefs are due by June 8. The ITC’s final report is expected this August.