The force of static friction acting on the box is greater than the applied horizontal force.
Force is known to be the reason for motion according to Newton's first law of motion. An object will move when it has been acted upon by an external force.
In this case, a box lying on a table has been acted upon by an external force of 12 newton but the box remains at rest. This simply means that the applied force is less than the force of static friction acting on the box.
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