Japan Extends Study Period of Punitive Tariffs on S. Korea's Hynix
Posted on: Tuesday, 26 July 2005, 12:00 CDT
Jul. 26--TOKYO -- The government said Tuesday it will extend the period of studying the possibility of imposing punitive tariffs on imports of dynamic random access memory microchips produced by South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor Inc. as it needs more time to analyze new evidence recently submitted by concerned parties.
Japan was supposed to complete the one-year study next week, but Tokyo set a new deadline on February 3 next year, extending the period by six months. The government will decide whether to slap the punitive tariffs by that date, the finance and trade ministries said.
Tokyo launched the investigation in August 2004 based on a claim by Japanese semiconductor makers Elpida Memory Inc. and Micron Japan Ltd. that Hynix exports are unfairly subsidized by the South Korean government.
The two companies insist the subsidies to Hynix, in the form of loans extended by financial institutions affiliated with the South Korean government, make the prices of the firm's DRAMs unfairly low, thus damaging the Japanese industry.
The United States in 2003 also imposed about 45 percent in duties on Hynix's DRAMs on grounds that the loans to Hynix constitute a state subsidy banned under World Trade Organization rules.
South Korea brought the case to the WTO later in the year and in June, the highest court of the multilateral trade liberalization body upheld the legality of U.S. tariffs. The decision overturned a ruling by a WTO dispute settlement panel, which was in favor of Hynix.
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Source: Kyodo News International, Tokyo
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