On May 14, 2018, Korea requested consultations with the United States concerning definitive safeguard measures imposed by the United States on imports of large residential washers.
Korea claimed that the measures appear to be inconsistent with:
- Articles 1, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 7.1, 7.4, 8.1, 12.1, 12.2 and 12.3 of the Agreement on Safeguards; and
- Article I:1, II, X:3 and XIX:1(a) of the GATT 1994.
On May 25, 2018, Thailand requested to join the consultations. Subsequently, the United States informed the DSB that it had accepted the request of Thailand to join the consultations.
On August 14, 2018, Korea requested the establishment of a panel. At its meeting on August 27, 2018, the DSB deferred the establishment of a panel.
At its meeting on September 26, 2018, the DSB established a panel. Brazil, China, the European Union, Egypt, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Norway, the Russian Federation, Thailand, and Viet Nam reserved their third-party rights.
On June 20, 2019, Korea requested the Director-General to compose the panel. On July 1, 2019, the Director-General composed the panel.