NEC Corp took the unprecedented step on Wednesday of asking a US Federal Court to suspend a Commerce Department anti dumping investigation involving NEC supercomputers. The NEC suit filed in the Court of International Trade in New York alleges that Commerce officials unlawfully prejudged the merits of Cray’s allegations before the dumping investigation was initiated. The case in question concerns the proposed sales of NEC supercomputers to the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) in Boulder Colorado. NEC has complained that two months before Cray’s dumping petition was filed, the Commerce Department created a Pre-decisional Dumping Analysis in conjunction with Cray, and provided it to the National Science Foundation o n May 20 1996. This alleged that there was a large dumping margin on the proposed sale. The analysis was used by the Commerce Department to block the sale of an NEC supercomputer to UCAR, despite selection on the basis of technical merit. NEC and its US supercomputer distributor, HNSX Supercomputers Inc., have asked that an unbiased Special Master be appointed by the Court to ensure a fair and impartial investigation, and until this is done, that the investigation be delayed. NEC is taking the attitude that Japanese companies need to stand up for their rights in the US market. From the start of the UCAR sale process, NEC has been in close contact with the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and one has to assume that the Japanese government supports NEC’s stance. NEC also admits to using lobbyists in Washington to counteract Cray’s publicity.
