WASHINGTON — The Commerce Department set duties from 13.74 percent to 26 percent on imports of wind towers from China used by the energy industry, siding with U.S. manufacturers — including Broadwind Energy Inc., whose shares surged.
The agency released preliminary results Wednesday of its investigation into a complaint from the Wind Tower Trade Coalition, which claims its members are harmed by subsidies on products from China. In addition to Broadwind, of Naperville, Ill., the group includes Otter Tail’s DMI Industries, Katana Summit and a unit of Trinity Industries.
Broadwind stock rose as much as 9.5 percent, the most in three weeks, to 32 cents after the announcement.
The decision is a “positive step in the right direction,” said Daniel Pickard, an attorney with Wiley Rein in Washington, who represents the coalition.
The case highlights growing tension between the U.S. and China on economic and renewable-energy issues ahead of the U.S. elections in November. The Commerce Department on May 17 announced tariffs of 31 percent to 250 percent on Chinese solar-product imports, after companies including the U.S. unit of SolarWorld AG said the products were being sold below production cost. China on Friday said it filed a complaint against U.S. anti-subsidy duties with the World Trade Organization in Geneva.
“It’s a long, slow escalation of trade and currency wars as we race to the bottom,” Theodore O’Neill, an analyst with Wunderlich Securities in New York, said as China lodged its WTO complaint.
The Commerce Department on Wednesday set duties of 13.74 percent for CS Wind China and several affiliated companies, and 26 percent for Titan Wind Energy Suzhou and its affiliates. The rate is 19.87 percent for other Chinese exporters and producers.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection will start collecting a cash deposit from importers based on the decision, the agency said in a statement. The payments will be refunded if a final determination, scheduled for August, reverses the preliminary finding.
“This could be a short-lived victory for Broadwind” and U.S.-based wind-tower makers if Congress doesn’t renew the production-tax credit for wind energy that expires this year, said Christopher Blansett, an analyst with JPMorgan Securities in San Francisco.
13.74%
Duties set by the Commerce Department for CS Wind China and several affiliated companies
26%
Rate for Titan Wind Energy Suzhou and its affiliates
19.87%
Rate for other Chinese exporters and producers
