WTO to determine if Japan is in non-compliance with Hynix ruling

GENEVA/SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- The World Trade Organization (WTO) said Tuesday that it has set up a panel to determine if Japan is failing to comply with a ruling that required it to stop levying countervailing duties on South Korean computer chips.
The move was requested by Seoul after Tokyo failed to end its punitive duties on
DRAMs made by Hynix Semiconductor Inc.
The trading body ruled twice against the 27.2 percent duties slapped on the chips
earlier in the year and set a deadline of Sept. 1 for Japan to comply.
Japan, however, said that it will maintain 9.1 percent duties until 2010.
DRAMs made by Hynix, the world's No. 2 memory chipmaker, have been slapped with
countervailing duties by Japan, the United States and the European Union (EU),
which claimed that the company received unfair aid from the South Korean
government when it was close to collapsing.
Washington said last month that it has decided to effectively end its duties
against Hynix, with the EU taking similar steps.
The WTO panel will review the positions of both sides over the next three months,
with an three additional months of deliberation possible if either side appeals
the results of the first examination.
If experts find Japan in non-compliance, South Korea would be permitted to take
retaliatory sanctions against Japanese imports.
Related to the move by the WTO, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it
will do its utmost to get Japan to scrap its countervailing duties.
A spokesperson said that a final decision may take up to six to seven months.