After all the noise just recently over U.S. import duties on Chinese-made solar equipment and technology, now it’s Chinese-made wind technology that’s going to face higher duties.
The U.S. Commerce Department finalized import duties on wind towers manufactured by Chengxi Shipyard Co. and CS Wind Corp., in an action designed to combat government subsidies and “dumping” here in the U.S.
From Bloomberg:
“The final results are an important step in remedying the material injury already suffered by the U.S. industry and will force the Chinese and Vietnamese producers to compete fairly,” Alan Price, an attorney with Wiley Rein LLP in Washington, said in a statement.
It’s an interesting time for such a move. The decision emerged right as two days of economic and trade talks began in Washington between China and the U.S. The question of government support for renewable technology and its economic and trade implications is expected to be a crucial issue.
For Chengxi Shipyard wind towers, anti-dumping duties were set at 47.59 percent, while Titan Wind Energy Suzhou Co. (SHE: 002531) will face duties of 44.99 percent. Earlier, Titan faced duties of just 20.85 percent, a rate set back in July. CS Wind’s Chinese unit, Guodan United Power, and Sinovel Wind Group Co. will all face rates of 46.38 percent. All other companies will face an even stiffer rate of 70.63 percent.
Anti-subsidy rates for CS Wind will be 21.86 percent, and 34.81 percent for Titan. All other producers and exporters will face anti-subsidy rates of 28.34 percent.
Numbers from Bloomberg make it clear that 25 percent of the U.S. wind-tower market comes from imports from China and Vietnam.
In 2011, U.S. imports of Chinese utility-scale wind towers amounted to $222 million, while those from Vietnam accounted for $79 million. This year, those numbers are already higher—in the first five months of 2012, imports from China were as high as $269 million.
