U.S. regulators that have been upping protectionist barriers have slammed hard on Samsung Electronics even as the Korean smartphone giant has taken unusually fast and bold recall action on latest Galaxy Note7 devices on safety concerns after reports of batteries blowing up while charging.

On Friday (local time), the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) advised consumers against using Galaxy Note7, warning of serious results from overheat and burst.

Earlier the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had also strongly advised “passengers not to turn on or charge (Galaxy Note 7) devices on board aircraft and not to stow them in any checked baggage,” citing concerns over the devices catching fire due to battery fault. The FAA’s warning has led major global carriers to also issue similar cautions.

The strong verbal warning from U.S. authorities came after Samsung Electronics willingly stopped selling the product after preliminary finding on battery defect in lithium-ion pack in some devices and offered to replace or refund the entire 2.5 million devices already sold over the last month.

Coincidentally, U.S. smartphone rival Apple Inc. is readying the Sept. 7 launch of iPhone 7.

A day after CPSC’s announcement on Friday, Samsung Electronics issued a statement advising consumers not only in the U.S. but also 9 other countries to suspend the use of their Galaxy Note 7 device as a precautionary measure due to battery issue, asking them to “power down their Galaxy Note 7s and exchange them as soon as possible” through a global replacement program. The device has been sold in 10 countries so far - Korea, the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates.

The Korean tech company said that the latest statement was issued according to equal global standards based on its number one priority on the safety of its customers regardless of the CPSC advice.

“It is common for a government not only of the U.S. but also others to protect its own industries using regulations and laws,” said Lee Byung-tae, business school professor at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. “(It is similar to how) the U.S. imposes anti-dumping duties and conducts investigations (when it can) to beat foreign companies.”

Lee noted that the U.S. government had imposed anti-dumping duties on Korean washing machines but the World Trade Organization (WTO) recently ruled that the punitive duties were in violation of the WTO agreement.

By Song Sung-hoon and Lee Gyung-jin

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