Europe slaps 33% duty on Hynix DRAM imports

Sets level of punitive levy

The European Commission has imposed a 33 per cent import duty on Hynix DRAM products, Dow Jones reports.

The move comes as no surprise. The EC ruled last month that Hynix had received illegal government aid in the form of loans provided by banks owned or part-owned by the South Korean government.

Such aid, which the EC believes allowed Hynix to sell DRAM into Europe for less than it cost to produce, is forbidden by World Trade Organisation rules. As a penalty, the EC said it would impose a tariff of 30-35 per cent on Hynix DRAM imports.

This decision pre-dates a similar tariff, of 57.37 per cent, which the US Department of Commerce said it intends to impose this summer for the same reason.

Both rulings followed investigations into complaints made by Infineon in Europe and Micron in the US. Memory makers in Taiwan and Japan are believed to be pursuing the imposition of comparable tariffs with their own trade regulators. ®

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