The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled Friday that South Korea can impose annual retaliatory duties worth some 84-point-eight million dollars against U.S. imports in response to U.S. measures taken against Korean washing machines.

The decision comes a year after South Korea requested the authorization from the Dispute Settlement Body(DSB) to suspend concessions and other obligations in the goods sector on the grounds that the U.S. failed to comply with the DSB's recommendations and rulings related to a trade dispute over Korean washing machines. 

The latest ruling outlined that South Korea "shall be entitled to impose suspension of concessions or other obligations" in the amount of 74-point-four million dollars for U.S. anti-dumping duty measures and ten-point-four million for countervailing duty measures during the first year following the DSB's authorization.

The DSB determined the amount after listening to arguments from both sides, but the figure is much smaller than Seoul initially asked for.

The trade dispute began in early 2013 when the U.S. imposed stiff tariffs on washing machines built by Samsung and LG Electronics.