Korean Hearings on Japanese Robot Imports

Korea holds hearing on Japanese robot pricing


SEOUL - The South Korean government held a hearing on Wednesday to determine if Japanese industrial robot manufacturers are hurting domestic competitors by unfairly undercutting prices.

The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said provisional anti-dumping duties ranging from 8.76% to 19.48% were already imposed on the robots, used mostly on automobile assembly lines, on February 22.

The trade commission's investigation was started at the behest of South Korean robot manufacturer Hyundai Heavy Industries Co in August 2004.

In the commission's preliminary ruling, Nachi Robotics was slapped with an anti-dumping duty of 19.48%, followed by 16.16% levied on Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd.
(Robot Products)
Yaskawa Electric Corp and Fanuc Ltd were levied punitive duties of 13.41% and 8.76%, respectively, while other Japanese robot manufacturers must sell their products here after paying 15.01% anti-dumping duties.

The Japanese companies cited are world leaders in this sector, and as of 2004 account for 53.3% of the South Korean market. Local car manufacturers Hyundai, Kia and GM-Daewoo are among their customers.

The South Korean market reached 59.3 billion won (US$58.8 million) last year. Of this, 33% was manufactured locally, while 66.2% was imported.

South Korea selected industrial robots as one of 10 next-generation growth industries in August 2003 and has encouraged investment and resources to be put into this sector.

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