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.

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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.

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

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“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.

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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.

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

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

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