The U.S. International Trade Commission has issued a preliminary decision that imported wind towers from China and Vietnam are being "dumped," or sold below the cost of production, on the U.S. market, harming domestic manufacturers. The commission's findings will now be reviewed by the U.S. Department of Commerce for further possible trade action.

The case was brought by the Wind Tower Trade Coalition, a group of wind tower manufacturers deployed by the utility industry. Members of Des Moines, Iowa, Local 347 manufacture wind towers at Trinity Structural Towers.

The ITC's determination follows three commerce department investigations into charges that China and Vietnam were dumping the utility-scale towers.

If the Department of Commerce rules favorably for the wind tower industry, anti-dumping duties could be levied on imported wind towers, raising their costs to protect the competitive position of U.S. manufacturers.

Commerce Department investigators are also probing Chinese government subsidies to the wind tower industry for violations of international trade laws.

In January, IBEW called upon members to support the development of renewable energy and increased wind power manufacturing by asking Congress to vote for a four-year extension of the production tax credit. More details are available on the Web at www.SaveUSAWindJobs.com.

Says International President Edwin D. Hill, "More Americans are waking up every day to the need for the U.S. to insist on fair trade to protect and expand our domestic manufacturing industry. This action by the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission show that policymakers are listening to Americans who know that opportunities for economic growth and shared prosperity will be lost if the U.S. doesn't win a level playing field in renewable energy technologies."