China - US tariffs on Chinese wind turbines opposed

China strongly opposes the tariffs that the US Commerce Department imposed on Chinese wind turbines, saying the move will also damage the US wind power industry, said a statement from the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products on July 30.

Chinese wind turbine exporters did not dump or sell the product below market cost in the US, nor did they receive non-actionable subsidies, which are subsidies in violation of World Trade Organization rules, the statement said.

In a preliminary ruling on Thursday, the US Department of Commerce imposed provisional anti-dumping duties ranging from 20.85 percent to 72.69 percent on utility-scale wind turbines from China. The tariffs are in addition to countervailing duties of between 13.74 percent and 26 percent. Some wind turbines from China could thus face tariffs as high as nearly 100 percent.

As the US does not recognize China as a market economy, Ukraine was set as the alternative country for calculating the normal value of China’s wind turbines exports. The chamber said that “the dumping margin was artificially determined because of the sharp cost differences between Chinese and Ukrainian producers”.

“The US move will not only damage the interests of its domestic downstream users, but also bring about negative effects to the development of the US wind power industry,” the statement said.

The US Department of Commerce launched the probe at the end of last year and is scheduled to make a final ruling in December. The US International Trade Commission will make the final ruling of the probe in February 2013.

Companies involved in the probe will actively defend themselves and the chamber expects “a fair final ruling” from the US, the statement added.

China’s exports of wind turbines were worth $222 million in 2011.