Hynix: EU ends sanctions

Since 2003, the European Union has imposed substantial customs duties on products from memory manufacturer Hynix which is accused of receiving excessive subsidies from the South Korean government that could undermine a competition. This decision, which followed that of the American department of trade, was the object of an appeal with the World Trade Organization. In 2005, it had made a decision in favor of Hynix; however, in practice it was dead-letter.

Now according to X-bit labs, the European Union council has accepted to lift these customs duties at the beginning of the month and to retroactively reimburse those paid since December 31, 2007. In the short term, this should notably contribute to reducing the risk of a price increase for memory in Europe.