[That ’s two months after Japan ’s export restrictions, the Korean government ca n’t disclose the amount of import reduction that is the basis for damage]

Two months have passed since Japan implemented export restrictions on three types of semiconductor and display materials targeting Korea in early July, but the South Korean government has not disclosed the changes in imports of the materials. Import volume fluctuation is a document that can objectively prove the damage of Korean companies due to Japanese export regulations. There is a reason why the government, which has revealed even the policy of suing Japan to the World Trade Organization (WTO), is ambiguous in disclosing the indicators that can clearly show the damage. According to the current state of imports of Japan's export-regulated items by the Customs Agency, which was obtained through the National Assembly's Liberal Korean Parliament Office on October 10, Japan will export high-purity hydrogen fluoride, photoresist, and fluorine polyimide on July 4. After the regulation, imports of the relevant items continued. According to the Customs Agency data, the import volume of hydrogen fluoride for semiconductor manufacturing from Japan was 529.85 tons in July, a quarter level lower than 2780.35 tons a year ago. It became clear that there was no August import of hydrogen fluoride. Compared to the import of 3174.31 tons in August last year, it has clearly changed. The indicators confirm that the export control was hit directly. On the other hand, it is clear that imports of resist for semiconductor manufacturing and polyimide for circuit boards have increased. Resist imports for semiconductor manufacturing were 141.38 tons and 95.71 tons respectively in July and last month, up from 83.87 tons and 95.06 tons in the same month last year. Polyimide film imports for circuit boards also increased from 16.51 tons and 12.58 tons in July and August last year to 23.51 tons (July) and 22.43 tons (August), respectively. Why has the import of items subject to export control measures increased from before the export control? To sum up the explanations of the related departments, this is close to a kind of statistical illusion that occurred because the “ HS code (Harmonized System code) '' which is a commodity classification code used by the government when examining trade volume is not subdivided . According to the international agreement, Korea designates HS codes by type for all import / export items. The HS code basically consists of 6 digits. South Korea adds 4 digits for detailed classification and distinguishes items with a total of 10 digits. For example, the HS code for resists for semiconductor manufacturing is 370901010, the HS code for hydrogen fluoride for semiconductor manufacturing is 2811111000, and the HS code for polyimide for circuit boards is 3920999010. However, on the HS code, the same item is handled in various ways depending on the actual use and characteristics. A Customs Agency official explained that “there are only a few of these items that Japan has designated for export control. The HS code is intended to collect tariffs, and the items are not further subdivided.” For example, photoresist is subdivided into extreme ultraviolet (EUV), krypton fluoride (KrF) light source, argon fluoride (ArF) light source, etc. according to the light source wavelength. Unlike this, the Customs Service records only "resist for semiconductor manufacturing". Japan has set EUV and ArF photoresists as export control targets, but KrF resists that have already been made domestically in Korea have not been specified as export control targets. In other words, even if EUV and ArF photoresists are not imported due to Japanese export regulations, if imports of KrF photoresists increase, the total import amount of resists for semiconductor manufacturing will increase. Because of this, in order for the government to accurately investigate changes in the amount of imports of Japan's export-restricted items, it is necessary to increase not only the statistics of the Customs Agency but also the fact-finding of the Industrial Trade Resource Department. An official from the Ministry of Industry explained, “Because the amount of raw material imported is a business secret of the company, the government cannot directly investigate it, but we can only contact the company. It is difficult to make it public.” However, some point out that the government should rush from subdivision of items so that the government can clearly prove that it has suffered from the damage caused by Japanese export restrictions. * Some excerpts from the link below. Continue with the source http://news.kmib.co.kr/article/view.asp?sid1=all&arcid=0013700858&code=6114111 document.write(” + ”); Related article document.write(” + ”);