GENEVA — South Korea told the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Friday (Aug. 29) it was "deeply disappointed" that Japan had not scrapped memory chip duties, signalling it may seek further WTO arbitration in the case.
Japan was instructed to scrap the duties on South Korean dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips by Sept. 1 after a WTO dispute panel ruled they violated trade rules.
In a statement to the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), Japan said it had complied with the ruling by agreeing to reduce the duties from 27.2 percent to 9.1 percent. But Seoul said this was not sufficient.
"Japan’s recalcitrance has left (South) Korea with no choice but to pursue the remedies available under the DSU (Dispute Settlement Understanding)," Seoul said in a statement. "We may have to seek action from the DSB on this matter again in the near future."
South Korea’s Hynix Semiconductor <000660.KS> is the world’s second-largest memory chip maker. Japan imposed the duties in retaliation for a 2002 bail-out of the company that it believed amounted to a state subsidy. Japan’s Elpida Memory <6665.T> competes with Hynix. (Reporting by Laura MacInnis; Editing by Dina Kyriakidou)
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