[THE INVESTOR] Korean home appliance giants Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics will work together to deal with a US safeguard probe of their washing machines, sources said on Sept. 7.

In June, the US government started a safeguard investigation into foreign washers, mostly made by Korean companies, at the request of Whirlpool to determine whether they have hurt the American industry.

The US International Trade Commission is slated to hold a public hearing on the safeguard investigation in Washington on Sept. 7.

Officials of Samsung and LG are slated to attend the hearing to argue that the ongoing investigation is unfair and US imports of their washers have not caused serious injury to the American industry as alleged by Whirlpool.

Whirlpool insists Samsung and LG have relocated production to Vietnam and Thailand, respectively, to circumvent anti-dumping tariffs imposed by the US government on their washers manufactured in Mexico and China each.

Whirlpool has asked the US trade body to slap anti-dumping tariffs on the imported washers beyond a certain amount.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)