Japan to lift tariffs on S. Korea's Hynix computer chips

(ATTN: CHANGES dateline, attribution in lead; ADDS more details throughout)
SEOUL, April 13 (Yonhap) -- Japan has decided to lift punitive tariffs on
computer chips made by South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor Inc., in a move expected
to settle a three-year-old trade dispute between the two countries, officials
here said Monday.

Tokyo will remove the 9.1-percent tariff imposed on Hynix, the world's
second-largest memory chip maker later this month, according to them.
The Japanese government lowered its tariff on Hynix chips from 27.2 percent in
September last year to 9.1 percent after the World Trade Organization ruled that
its countervailing tariff was unfair.
The final decision by Japan to scrap the tariff will need approval at its Cabinet
meeting on April 17, according to officials. An official announcement is expected
to be made on April 22, .
Japan had argued that Hynix received subsidies from the South Korean government
in 2001 and 2002 in violation of fair trade rules in the Japanese market.
The decision follows similar actions by the European Union and the United States
last year to remove duties on Hynix.
Meanwhile, shareholders of the debt-heavy chipmaker have agreed to let the
company raise up to $510 in a rights offer.
sam@yna.co.kr
(END)