For immediate release:

Contact:
Sara Haimowitz, Development and Membership Coordinator
Coalition for a Prosperous America

CPA Applauds New Offsetting Duties on Chinese Wind Towers

The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) applauds the Department of Commerce’s preliminary determination to impose offsetting import duties on Chinese utility scale wind towers.  The duties resulted from a finding that Chinese producers and exporters were receiving countervailable subsidies of 13.74 percent to 26 percent.

“A substantial portion of our goods trade deficit results from foreign cheating.  Enforcement of existing trade rules is insufficient by itself, but is necessary to help balance trade, remedy foreign subsidy violations, and deter future trade misconduct,” said Michael Stumo, CEO of CPA.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been instructed to collect a cash deposit on these preliminary rates, pending final determination in August 2012.  According to Commerce, the “merchandise covered by this investigation is utility scale wind towers which are the steel towers that support the nacelle (an enclosure for an engine) and rotor blades for use in wind turbines that have electrical power generation capacities in excess of 100 kilowatts.”

“CPA does have a concern about the CBP enforcement of this order,” continued Stumo. “Chinese manufacturers have a pattern and practice of duty evasion.  Duty avoidance has included false classifications of imported goods packaging, trans-shipping through third countries to disguise the true originating country, and fraudulent paperwork declaring a false country of origin that not covered by the order.”

CPA is supporting legislation to require Customs to devote more resources to enforcement of trade laws and trade enforcement orders (S. 1133 and HR 3057).  CPA also supports legislation that would classify persistent currency manipulation as an unlawful export subsidy (HR 639).