April 3, 2003 – Seoul, Korea – The US Commerce Department announced a preliminary ruling that it will impose a 57.3% of countervailing duty on memory chips imported from Hynix Semiconductor, which is nearly double the original estimate.
As a result, the Korean chipmaker is required to pay a deposit, which is estimated at about 35 billion won/month ($27.9 million), until the final ruling is made at the end of July, reported the Financial Times.
Analysts said that the Commerce Department must have considered the financial aid to Hynix by Korean banks as a government subsidy.
Last year, Micron Technology filed a complaint that the Hynix’s debt write-off by its creditors is the same as government subsidy, asking for an investigation in the case.