TOKYO (Standard&Poor's) Jan. 24, 2006--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today said that there would be no impact on the rating on Hynix Semiconductor Inc. (B+/Stable/--) following the announced imposition of countervailing duties by Japan's Ministry of Finance on the company's Korean-made DRAM chips. The 27.2% tariff is to be levied for a period of five years following the meeting of the Japanese Cabinet on Jan. 27, 2006. Hynix's DRAM sales in Japan accounted for an estimated 10%-12% of its consolidated sales in 2005, of which 40% would have been subject to the duties. However, the impact of the duties should be considerably lessened due to the company's increased overseas capacity, from Taiwan's ProMOS Technologies and also from Hynix's
