The U.S. Commerce Department has removed antidumping duties that were imposed in 1997 on supercomputers made by NEC Corp., Fujitsu Ltd. and other Japanese firms, department officials said Thursday.
The decision effectively clears the way for Japanese computer makers to resume exports of supercomputers to the lucrative U.S. market.
The U.S. slapped antidumping duties of 454 percent on NEC machines, 173 percent on Fujitsu's products and 314 percent on supercomputers made by all other Japanese manufacturers following a 1997 ruling in support of complaints filed by Cray Inc. of the United States.
The Commerce Department removed the duties in response to a plea by Cray, which formed a partnership with NEC in February.