The U.S. International Trade Commission on Thursday found that imports of large residential washing machines were harming domestic producers, in a major step toward the imposition of duties or quotas on foreign-made Samsung- and LG-brand washers.

The case, brought by U.S. appliance giant Whirlpool Corp , asked the ITC to recommend to President Donald Trump "global safeguard" restrictions on imported washing machines to stop South Korean rivals Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and LG Electronics Inc from flooding the U.S. market with cheap washers.

The commission, which voted 4-0 in finding that large residential washers were being imported in such quantities to create injury to domestic producers, will recommend remedies by Dec. 4 to Trump, who is expected to make a final decision by early next year.

A public hearing on possible remedies has been scheduled for Oct. 19, an ITC spokeswoman said.

The four current ITC members said, however, that they did not find any injuries coming from washing machines made in South Korea or any other U.S. free trade partners. The Whirlpool complaint was centered on production that had moved to other countries to avoid anti-dumping duties that were imposed on South Korean-made washers several years ago.