Having found a bunch of Android-based Samsung widgets violate four Apple patents, the US International Trade Commission has ordered the giant Korean company to post a bond worth 88% of its US smartphones sales as well as 32.5 % of its media player and 37.6% of its tablet sales if it want to keep selling the things.

The decision, which is largely backed by the agency's staff, is preliminary, subject to the affirmation of the ITC's six-man board of commissioners and the White House.

The commissioners are supposed to decide by February 25 and the president 60 days later. At that point Samsung could be looking at an import blackout.

Samsung thought the bond should only be worth a 4.9% royalty rate but was overruled by the court, which found it to be undercutting Apple's prices. It threatened to boost the bond to 100% during the presidential review.

FOSS Patents says Samsung still has its designarounds, which may or may not infringe, and Apple has to beat back patent re-examinations such as the recently rejected "Steve Jobs" touchscreen patent central to the case.

The blog says "customs officers may hold up shipments of designaround products until they are certain that an exclusion order doesn't apply to them" and could affect Samsung's TVs, laptops, non-smartphone mobile phones, cameras, camcorders and standalone components.

The products involved include Galaxy Tab models and the Galaxy Nexus smartphone.