SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–April 1, 2003
“The U.S. Commerce Department’s preliminary determination that hynix received countervailable subsidies from the Korean Government is disappointing for us,” Mr. Oh-chul Kwon, Vice President, said today. “We believe that this preliminary determination is unjustified on both the facts and the law.” “Under U.S. law, these additional duties should only be assessed when the facts prove that a foreign government has been subsidizing exports of a product,” Mr. Kwon stated.
Mr. Kwon noted that “in this case hynix and its Washington counsel and advisors provided extensive proof that the Korean government was not behind the restructuring measures adopted by hynix’s creditors in 2001 and 2002. Rather, the evidence demonstrated that the bank restructurings that were the focus of the allegations in this case were wholly decided by the hynix’s creditors based on market principles.” Mr. Kwon also noted that “this case is far from over.”
The decision issued by the Commerce Department today was just a preliminary determination. The Commerce Department is scheduled to issue a final determination in the middle of June. Mr. Kwon stated that “it appears that the Commerce Department was overwhelmed with all the information and data that they received and needs more time to digest and analyze it.” Mr. Kwon stated that he is confident that the Commerce Department will agree that the Korean Government was not behind the restructuring efforts after they have more time to understand all of the complex transactions.
Mr. Kwon also noted that the Commerce Department’s decision is not that only ruling that maters. Under U.S. law, extra CVD import duties cannot be imposed unless and until both the Commerce Department makes a final determination that the Korean Government provided impermissible subsidies, and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) makes final determination that subsidized exports from Korea caused the U.S. industry to suffer material injury. The ITC’s final determination will not be made until July 29th. “I have no doubt,” Mr. Kwon stated, “that at the end of this case hynix will prevail and no additional import duties will be imposed on hynix’s shipments.” “Today’s determination will not affect hynix’s commitment to provide our customers with the most advanced, highest quality products and to remain a world-class competitor.
hynix will continue to manufacture state-of-the-art products at home and in our facility in Eugene, Oregon, where we have invested over $1 billion and employ over 1000 skilled American workers.” Today’s decision by the Commerce Department will have no affect on the ability of our Eugene facility to supply U.S. customers.”
