EU?s DRam tariffs unite Kingston and Samsung

Samsung and Kingston Technology have struck a deal to ensure neither side suffers when the EU makes a decision on memory chip tariffs.

EU commissioners were supposed to make a decision on Monday about tariffs, but rejected the pressure from different European countries and said they would delay their move.

But the consequences are likely to have political ramifications in the UK. Deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine brokered deals where South Korean companies such as Samsung, Goldstar and Hyundai had preferential rates in the UK.

A representative of Kingston Technology, which brokered a deal between Samsung and itself, admitted the UK market was in chaos. She said: ?The law in the UK expired Monday. There will be a moratorium on the reference price for a month. It?s a period where everyone can relax, but people have to adapt to the reference price.?

The representative said the EU is prepared to consider individual solutions, but tariffs of 60 per cent for Japanese DRam and 47 per cent for Korean DRam will come. ?That means chip importers who assemble them here will suffer.?