The battle between the U.S. and China over tariffs could mean higher prices for consumers in the market for home appliances.
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LG Electronics was forced to hike its prices on washing machines and dryers in response to President Trump’s imposed tariffs.
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Dr. I.P. Park, president and CTO of LG Electronics, told FOX Business’ Liz Claman that the company has absorbed the effects of tariffs on its sales by building factories in the U.S.
“We want our business to grow globally, whether we do this here or do it elsewhere, we want to grow our business,” Park said from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Thursday. “If a new condition arrives, then we’ll still overcome it with different types of efforts.”
The Trump administration has slapped onerous tariffs on washing machine imports. The first 1.2 million imported washing machines were hit with a 20 percent tariff in 2018 followed by 50 percent tariff on all subsequent imports.
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Washing machines recorded a record price increase of 18.2 percent from March to June 2018, making it the largest-ever quarterly increase in 40-year history of tracking, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“At the end of the day, business is business and there are some times governments will be beneficial to us. Sometimes it’ll provide hardships,” Park said on “Countdown to the Closing Bell.” “We’ll overcome difficulties.”
The world’s two biggest economies have given no indication of their next step after wrapping up talks aimed at resolving the tariff standoffs. China and the U.S. say they will remain in close contact over the coming days.
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Park said there’s a slowdown with Chinese consumers who buy LG products which he attributes to the current trade tensions between the U.S. and Beijing.
“There are some trade tensions that comes into play, but I said before, business is business. There’s going to be some hardships,” he said.
