No Section 232 Tariffs for Now on Imports of Wind Turbines

President Trump has declined to impose Section 232 tariffs on imports of wind turbines and their parts and components, at least for the time being.

Trump made this decision despite the Department of Commerce’s determination in its Section 232 investigation that these goods are being imported under such circumstances as to threaten to impair U.S. national security. Among other things the DOC concluded that U.S. wind energy is reliant on imports of foreign-produced wind turbine components and subcomponents and that imports of these goods have increased over the last decade.

However, instead of imposing Section 232 tariffs on such imports, the president instead directed the DOC and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to pursue or continue the negotiation of agreements with foreign trading partners to adjust imports. USTR will update the president on the progress of these talks within 180 days, and depending on their status or outcome the president may consider alternative remedies in the future.  

The proclamation gives some insight into the reasons tariffs were not imposed. One is that “the unpredictability of wind energy makes it less reliable than other energy sources” and that as a result “resources that are used to support wind energy and wind energy projects could instead [be] used to strengthen more reliable energy sources.” Another is that the U.S. already imposes Section 232 tariffs on aluminum, steel, and copper and some wind turbine components and subcomponents are made of significant amounts of those products and are therefore already subject to those tariffs.