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US trade board says wind tower imports likely harm domestic industry

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US trade board says wind tower imports likely harm domestic industry

The U.S. International Trade Commission, or USITC, on Aug. 22 determined there is "reasonable indication" that U.S. industry is injured by imports of wind towers from Canada, Indonesia, Korea and Vietnam.

The USITC is investigating whether wind tower imports are subsidized by those governments and sold at less than fair market value in the U.S. Commission Chairman David Johanson and Commissioners Rhonda Schmidtlein and Jason Kearns voted in the affirmative to make the determination, while Commissioners Irving Williamson and Meredith Broadbent did not participate in the vote.

The finding allows the U.S. Department of Commerce to continue its antidumping and countervailing duty investigations into wind tower imports. The Trump administration in July announced the probe based on petitions filed by the Wind Tower Trade Coalition, whose members are Dallas-headquartered Arcosa Inc. and Broadwind Energy Inc., which manufactures wind turbine towers at locations in Texas and Wisconsin. Alan Price, an attorney at Wiley Rein LLP who represents the coalition, in an early August interview said "it's fair to say" that most of major industry manufacturers are using imported wind tower products in the U.S.Arcosa Marine Products Inc.

"The producers of wind towers have been injured by subsidized imports and we're asking for duties to offset the unfair trade and therefore increase public production at non-injurious prices," Price said.

The USITC vote comes as wind developers in the U.S. are snapping up components in a race to get utility-scale projects across the line before the phase-out of the production tax credit at the end of the year, sparking a development boom. The tariff requests from the companies come amid domestic producers' fears of a downturn following the tax credit expiration.

The Commerce Department is expected to make preliminary determinations by Oct. 2 about whether the foreign governments are unfairly subsidizing the goods. By Dec. 16, the department is expected to make preliminary determinations about whether the foreign companies are selling the goods in the U.S. at less than fair market value.

The finding is limited to wind towers. A fact sheet from the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration says nacelles and rotor blades are excluded, as are other components not attached to the wind towers unless they are shipped with the tower sections.

In 2018, imports of wind towers from Canada, Indonesia, Korea and Vietnam were valued at $169 million, according to the Commerce Department. The administration in January 2018 imposed tariffs of 30% on imported solar cells and panels to shield U.S. manufacturers from foreign competition following petitions by Suniva Inc. and SolarWorld Americas Inc. However, the Office of U.S. Trade Representative later granted bifacial solar panels an exemption from the tariff, putting in jeopardy U.S. manufacturers' plans for domestic expansion.