The offer followed a preliminary ruling by the US Department of Commerce last week that dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips from South Korea were unfairly subsidised.

The ruling called for countervailing duties of 57.37 percent on chips shipped by South Korea's ailing Hynix Semiconductor Inc.

"The government would offer to cut down Hynix US shipments under the (tariff) suspension agreement," the Commerce, Industry and Energy Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said the US Department of Commerce would have until April 15 to respond to the offer.

"This government proposal does not mean that we accept the US preliminary ruling. The offer does not affect the future probes before the final ruling comes out," it added.

South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest memory chipmaker which faces a 0.16 percent tariff in the US preliminary ruling, was excluded from the proposal.

South Korea denies the US claim that the government has subsidized ailing Hynix in a bailout package, and has threatened to take the United States to the World Trade Organization.

The US accusation focuses on South Korean state-controlled creditor banks' rescue packages to help Hynix stay afloat.

SPACE.WIRE