The US government has started a review of the tariff which Hynix has to pay on its DRAM exports to the US following the 2003 finding by the US authorities that the company had been unfairly subsidised by the Korean government.

Initially the tariff was 45 per cent, but it was reduced to 27.3 per cent in 2005. Last year Hynix sold $1.6bn worth of DRAMs in the US.

Hynix said today that it is hoping that the US will abolish the tariff as from the second half of 2009.

The EU also put a tariff on Hynix DRAM, for the same reason. It started out at 34 per cent, was reduced to 32 per cent in 2005 and was abolished altogether in April this year.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has given Japan until 1 September to change its 27.2 per cent tariff on Hynix DRAMs which, according to the WTO, are in breach of its rules for global trading.

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