Washington, 30 July (Argus) — The Commerce Department has proposed hitting Chinese and Vietnamese imports of utility scale wind towers with tariffs of up to 72.7pc after finding the countries dumped their products on the US market at less than fair value

The agency issued a preliminary decision on 27 July setting duties of 20.9pc to 72.7pc for Chinese producers of wind towers and 52.7pc to 59.9pc for Vietnamese manufacturers. The tariffs would cover only the towers, but not other components such as rotor blades. The decision affects eight Chinese manufacturers and two in Vietnam.

Imports of utility scale wind towers last year from China were valued at $222mn and from Vietnam at $79mn, according to the Commerce Department.

The decision came in response to a petition filed by the Wind Tower Trade Coalition, a group of four US wind tower manufacturers. The Commerce Department said it will issue a final decision by 16 December.

This is the latest move by the Obama administration to slap tariffs on imports of Chinese renewable energy technologies. In May, the Commerce Department hit Chinese solar cells and panels with anti-dumping duties of 31pc to 250pc.

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