Chinese industry associations and wind power companies Wednesday denounced a US decision to slap steep duties on wind turbine towers imported from China, saying the move could erode the competitiveness of the global renewable resources industry and force both the Chinese wind power industry and US consumers to foot the bill for the failures of some US wind power companies.
Meanwhile, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) expressed concern Wednesday over the US decision and urged the US to engage in talks with China to resolve the dispute.
"New energy is a strategic emerging industry worldwide. The US wants to reach the commanding heights of the industry. Chinese fast-growing clean energy companies are threatening the dominant position of their US counterparts," Zhang Ping, head of the China Renewable Energy Industry Association (CREIA), told the Global Times Wednesday.
"The latest US decision is meant to defer the development of Chinese renewable energies and force US importers to pay a higher cost for towers and their consumers to pay higher electricity charges due to the technical and management of failures of some US wind power companies," Zhang said.
The US Department of Commerce announced Tuesday it would impose final anti-dumping duties ranging from 44.99 to 70.63 percent on utility-scale wind towers imported from China and additional countervailing duties of 21.86 to 34.81 percent.
The Chengxi Shipyard Co and The Titan Wind Energy (Suzhou) Co received final anti-dumping duties of 47.59 percent and 44.90 percent respectively, higher than the initial rate of 30.93 percent and 20.85 percent.
Final countervailing duties on Chinese wind towers were higher than those from the initial ruling in July demanding duties of 13.74 percent and 26 percent.
"The duties are unreasonable and unfair to us. We have never dumped our products in the US at prices below cost and as a private company, we have never received government subsidies," Zheng Kangsheng, Board Secretary of Titan Wind Energy (Suzhou) Co, told the Global Times.
According to Zheng, there was a surge in demand for wind towers from the company's US clients this year thanks to a wind turbine construction spree in the country as a US policy to support wind energy is expected to expire by the end of the year.
"The additional US duties will force us to explore other markets such as European and Asia-Pacific countries," Zheng said, adding that the company acquired a Danish wind power company in September and will set up a factory in India by 2013 to mitigate losses from expected sales declines in the US.
In a statement sent to the Global Times Wednesday, the MOFCOM said it was concerned with the latest US decision and urged the US to enter talks with the Chinese government and industrial associations to settle trade frictions and promote the healthy development of trade ties between the two nations.
The US announcement came as a Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier Wang Qishan is in talks Wednesday and Thursday with US Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank regarding trade and investment issues.
It also came after the US slapped steep anti-dumping and countervailing duties on solar panel imports from China last month.
On Tuesday, Yi Xiaozhun, China's Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) accused the US of abusing trade remedies and discriminative export control practices in its WTO trade policy review.
For the duties to take effect, the US International Trade Commission would have to determine whether imports from China are materially injuring US producers, with a final decision expected by January 31, 2013.