Whirlpool Has Trapped Washington in a Spin Cycle

[EasyAce]

The washing-machine maker’s close relationship with the government may pose problems for consumers.
By George F. Will
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/454698/washing-machine-regulations-may-circumvent-american-consumers

A household appliance will be the next stepping stone on America’s path to restored greatness. The
government is poised to punish many Americans, in the name of protecting a few of them, because, in the
government’s opinion, too many of them are choosing to buy foreign-made washing machines for no better
reason than that the buyers think they are better. If you are wondering why the government is squandering
its dwindling prestige by having opinions about such things, you have not been paying attention to Whirlpool’s
demonstration that it is more adept at manipulating Washington than it is at making washing machines.

In 2006, when Whirlpool was paying $1.7 billion to buy its largest competitor, Maytag, federal regulators
fretted that this would give the company too much market power. Whirlpool said: Fear not, competition from
foreign manufacturers such as South Korea’s Samsung and LG will keep us sharp and benefit American
consumers. Now, however, Whirlpool, which is weary of competition, has persuaded the U.S. International
Trade Commission to rule that Samsung and LG should be reproached for what, eleven years ago, Whirlpool
said it welcomed: competition . . .

. . . Competition increased, and so did Whirlpool’s reliance on the government, which in 2012 imposed duties
on washing machines imported from South Korea and Mexico. Samsung and LG responded rationally, by what
protectionists stigmatize as “country hopping,” moving some production to China, then Vietnam and Thailand.
And now to the United States. Samsung and LG have announced plans to become domestic manufacturers.
Samsung will open a manufacturing plant, with approximately 1,000 employees, in Newberry, S.C. LG’s plant
will be near Clarksville, Tenn . . .

. . . In October, Sears announced that it would stop selling Whirlpool-brand products because Whirlpool is
powerful enough to make pricing demands that “would have prohibited us from” selling those products “at
a reasonable price.”

Sears is not what it was just 15 years ago, and is a shadow of what it was in the 1960s, when its sales were
almost 1 percent of U.S. GDP. Sears has been prostrated not by perfidious foreigners but by America’s efficient
“big box” retailers (Walmart, Home Depot, Best Buy, Lowe’s, etc.) and by Amazon. The real villains, however,
are American consumers, with their persnickety search for high quality and low prices . . .

[RoosGirl]

I don't know about the other brands, but Whirlpool front loading washing machines suck.

[EasyAce]

I don't know about the other brands, but Whirlpool front loading washing machines suck.

@RoosGirl
Their top loaders ain't what they once were, either. (We had one when I was growing up.)

I've had an LG washing machine and matching dryer for eight years now. Front loading.
And the best front-loaders I've known since these ancient lovelies, one of which was in
the laundry room of my childhood apartment building . . .



. . . before we moved to Long Island and bought that '64 Whirlpool . . .