As the US and China conclude discussions of trade relations, the Commerce Department has slapped still tariffs on wind towers from China and Vietnam.
Wind towers are the steel support structures for utility-scale devices (over 100 kW) that hold the rotor blades and house the engine.
At the beginning of this year, the Commerce Department launched an investigation of the imports of utility-scale wind towers at the instigation of the Wind Tower Trade Coalition, made up of Broadwind Powers, DMI Industries, Katana Summit and Trinity Structural Towers.
In its findings published in the summer, the Commerce Department reported that Chinese and Vietnamese producers/importers had sold utility-scale wind towers at dumping margins of 20.85-72.69% and 52.67-59.91%, respectively.
Now, according to reports, Chinese importers will pay anti-dumping duties of 44.99-70.63%, depending on the company, and some will have to add countervailing duties of 21.86-34.81% to compensate for government subsidies. Vietnamese importers will face duties of 51.40-58.49%.
While the news will be good for US tower makers, the sector has more to worry about with production tax credits (PTCs) for the renewable industry set to expire in just ten days’ time on December 31st with no reprise immediately in sight.