Photo: cnsphoto

A report by a foreign media outlet claiming that a Chinese-made transformer was seized by federal officials for investigation upon arrival at a US port is nothing but one of many moves by the US against Chinese technology companies for untold purposes, insiders said.

The Wall Street Journal reported on May 27 that federal officials commandeered the electrical transformer, built by closely held Jiangsu Huapeng Transformer (Jiangsu Huapeng) Co, at the Port of Houston last summer and had it sent under federal escort to Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, citing sources claiming to have knowledge of the matter.

A person in the media relations department of Jiangsu Huapeng, who declined to be identified, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the contract for that deal last summer was completed and the company had already received payment from its American business partner.

"There is no such thing as US officials commandeering our transformer as the product was already handed over to our client in the US," he said, saying he had seen the Wall Street Journal report and did not know the intention behind it.

According to Jiangsu Huapeng, it has sold more than 10,000 power transformers worldwide in the past 20 years, and up to 100 have been sold to public utility companies in the US and Canada in the past decade.

The transformer was meant to be transported to an electrical substation in Colorado that funnels electricity to Denver, the report said.

"Since most electric companies in the US are privately owned, they will not buy our products if there are problems," he said, adding that their products are relatively competitive in the US.

The US heavily relies on imported transformers, as the US has moved away from what it regards as medium- and low-level manufacturing. China and India are among the largest world suppliers of transformers, analysts said.

To prohibit bulk power system equipment made by foreign companies from being in the US grid, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on May 1, media reported. Experts said the order would mainly affect Chinese-made products like electrical transformers.

Xiang Ligang, a veteran industry analyst, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the China-US trade war is a hard battle for the US side as it needs goods from China, but the science and technology war will continue, with many possible measures to be imposed by the US side against China.

"Chinese-made transformers offer good quality and competitive prices in the global spectrum, and given the wider context of the US attitude toward Chinese technology companies, China would be an easy target," Xiang said.

"There are also many US technology products in China, and should China also question them in response?" Xiang said. 

He noted that the US may have concerns out of political purposes, but when it comes to scientific investigation, it has to be conducted with actual evidence instead of groundless allegations.