Overview

• A Wall Street Journal review of federal import paperwork found steep drops in declared values beginning in June, including South Korean washing machines falling to $73 from $838 and Thai gas ranges dropping to about $175.
• Whirlpool says the lower declarations let importers pay less in duties as tariff rates rose, while retail prices for the same products did not show comparable declines.
• The company shared its analysis with U.S. Customs and Border Protection but has not filed a formal complaint, and no public enforcement action tied to these claims has been announced.
• GE Appliances denies undervaluation, demands a retraction, and says Whirlpool misused aggregated Census data and cited inaccurate examples; LG says it follows U.S. laws and Samsung did not immediately comment in the cited reports.
• The dispute unfolds as the Justice Department launches a Trade Fraud Task Force to pursue tariff evasion, and Whirlpool highlights that roughly 80% of its U.S.-bound appliances are produced domestically.