United States to impose tariff on Korean wind towers

The United States has decided to impose a 5.41 percent anti-dumping tariff on wind towers imported from Korea, citing their adverse impact on the U.S. industry.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) said it has concluded that products from Korea and other countries have "injured" its industry.

"The commission also made negative findings concerning critical circumstances with regard to imports of this product from Korea and Vietnam that are sold at less than fair value," the ITC said in a statement.

The U.S. Department of Commerce is expected to make an official order to impose the new tariff within a week.

Earlier this year, the department made a preliminary decision to slap an anti-dumping tariff of 5.98 percent on Korean imports, including those made by Dongkuk S&C.

The Wind Tower Trade Coalition, a group of U.S. firms, filed a petition last year, saying utility scale wind towers from Korea, Canada, Indonesia and Vietnam are being dumped in the United States.

The group insisted that Washington should slap anti-dumping tariffs of at least 350.62 percent.

The towers are used to support wind-power generators.

The United States imported $78 million worth of wind towers from Korea in 2019, up 57 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency.

Yonhap