Hynix urges Japan to scrap chip duty

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South Korea’s Hynix Semiconductor on Sunday urged Japan to immediately scrap punitive tariffs on its memory chips following a ruling by the World Trade Organization.

The WTO ruled in May that the Japanese government should remove duty on dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips made by Hynix, the world’s second largest chipmaker, by Sept 1 this year.

Tokyo said Friday it would lower the duty from 27.2% to 9.1% but pledged to maintain the tariff until 2010, Hynix said.

“Japan’s decision is very disappointing… The South Korean government should take immediate actions against the move,” Hynix said in a release carried by Yonhap news agency.

Japan imposed the five-year punitive tariffs on Hynix in 2006, citing an “unfair” bailout of the then troubled company by its creditors in 2002 and its alleged dumping of DRAM chips in Japan.

South Korea has said the Japanese decision breached world trade rules and was based on allegations only from Japanese firms.

The United States and European Union scrapped similar countervailing duties on Hynix products in August and April respectively, Hynix said.