The government said Friday it has notified South Korea that it may levy a 27.2 percent import duty on computer chips made by Hynix Semiconductor Inc.
Japan has been debating whether to slap punitive tariffs on Hynix dynamic random access memory microchips since August last year following an allegation from a Japanese firm that imports from the South Korean semiconductor maker are priced unfairly low and are damaging the Japanese chip industry.
The complaint was filed by chip maker Elpida Memory Inc., which claimed that Hynix exports were being subsidized by unfair loans from a bank backed by the South Korean government.
The decision to impose the tariffs is not final. The government has asked its South Korean counterpart to submit a reply to its latest notice by Nov. 21. A final decision will be made by Feb. 3.