An alliance of four US wind-turbine tower manufacturers have recently pressed lawsuits against the Vietnamese manufacturer UBI Tower Co, and some other Chinese companies, for selling the towers below cost in the US market.

UBI Co's wind-turbine towers, Photo: ubitower.vn

According to the Competition Management Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, four US manufacturers, namely Broadwind Towers Inc, DMI Industries, Katana Summit LLC, and Trinity Structures, have asked the US Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission to inspect and impose anti-dumping tariffs on towers imported from China and Vietnam.

The Trade Remedy Division under the agency said the US businesses accused the Vietnamese-made products of having the dumping margin of 59.1 percent. The rate is 64.37 percent for Chinese towers.

Nguyen Van Thu, chairman of the Vietnam Association of Mechanic Industry (VAMI), told Saigon Tiep Thi newspaper that UBI Tower Co, based in the northern province of Hai Duong, is the second only manufacturer operating in Vietnam capable of making wind-turbine towers.

The other company is a Vietnam-Korea joint-venture based in Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province.

The charges came after UBI won an international tender worth US$14 million for wind-turbine tower supply, Thu said, adding it was none other than the losers of the tender that brought the Vietnamese manufacturer to court.

“We have so far only been informed of the suit by UBI Tower Co, rather than from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Competition Management Agency,” Thu said.

“It took me by great surprise to learn that such a high-quality mechanical product could be involved in an anti-dumping lawsuit.”

He said that his association had been baffled by this unprecedented anti-dumping lawsuit in the mechanic industry.

“We do not know what to do, and have not figured out a solution yet,” he admitted.

He called on the government, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, to verify the information and provide guidance for VAMI.

“Otherwise, we hope that the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry should also take action.”

Meanwhile, Nguyen Phuong Nam, deputy head of the Competition Management Agency, told Saigon Tiep Thi that the lawsuit could only be a warning from the US manufacturers, since the US authorities have yet to slap any anti-dumping tariff on wind-turbine towers imported from Vietnam.

Nam said he would have everything verified during his business trip.

“However, even if the lawsuit is real, the Competition Management Agency will cooperate with relevant agencies to figure out a solution,” Nam promised.

According to the US OregonLive newswire, the US alliance claimed that Chinese manufacturers operating in Vietnam had benefited from Chinese government’s subsidies, which it said had allegedly allowed the companies to engage in predatory pricing in the US.

However, the newswire also stated that the complaint covers metal towers that hold the wind-turbines aloft, rather than the actual turbines or blades.

Source: Tuoitrenews