US Slaps Anti-Dumping and CVD on Wind Towers from China, Vietnam

The US Commerce Department has determined final anti-dumping and countervailing duties on wind tower imports from China, as well as anti-dumping duties for the same products from Vietnam, the government agency announced on Tuesday.

The investigation comes as a result of a petition filed almost a year ago by the Wind Tower Trade Coalition, a group comprised of four companies based in the US states of Nebraska, North Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin.

“Five major US producers, two of whom were petitioners in this investigation, have shut down tower operations and left the industry,” Paul Smith, president of Broadwind Towers, told the US International Trade Commission last week ahead of the Commerce announcement.

The specific products at issue in this investigation were utility scale wind towers, which are the steel towers that support the nacelle - an enclosure for an engine. Also under review were rotor blades for use in wind turbines that have electrical power generation capacities in excess of 100 kilowatts. The Commerce investigation did not include nacelles and rotor blades, regardless of whether they are attached to the wind tower; nor did the US agency include in its review any internal or external components not attached to the towers.

In its final determination announced on Tuesday, Commerce found that imports from

China and Vietnam were being dumped at margins of 44.99 percent to 70.63 percent and 51.50 percent to 58.49 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the US agency ultimately determined that producers/exporters from China have received countervailable subsidies of 21.86 percent to 34.81 percent.

According to Commerce, the China anti-dumping rates will be adjusted to account for the export subsidies found in the countervailing duty investigations. The cash deposits collected to account for the determined dumping will therefore be reduced by the relevant export subsidy rates.

In other words, while the dumping margins for China were between 44.99 percent to 70.64 percent, US customs officials will only collect cash deposits of between 34.33 percent to 60.02 percent, in order to account for the effect of the export subsidies that were found in the countervailing duty investigation - and thus not charge twice for the same violation.

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) will vote by 31 January on whether or not to approve these duties, Commerce said. If the ITC finds that imports of utility scale wind towers from China and/or Vietnam do indeed “materially injure, or threaten material injury to” US domestic industry, the US Commerce Department will issue AD and CVD orders. However, if ITC does not find such injury, the investigation will be terminated.

Imports of utility scale wind towers from China were valued at an estimated US$222 million in 2011, according to US data. Vietnam imports of these products to the US were valued at US$79 million in the same year.