China agrees to halt subsidies to wind power firms

WASHINGTON Tue Jun 7, 2011 12:16am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China has agreed to stop subsidizing wind power companies that use home-made parts rather than imports, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office confirmed late on Monday.

The decision is a victory for the United Steelworkers union, which last year urged President Barack Obama's administration to challenge a swath of Chinese clean energy measures that it said violated World Trade Organization rules.

USA Today, quoting U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, reported on its website that China had agreed to stop providing the subsidies ranging from $6 million to $22 million.

"This outcome helps ensure fairness for American clean technology companies and workers," the newspaper quoted Kirk as saying.

The USTR is expected to announce details of the settlement on Tuesday in Washington.

The agreement comes as the Obama administration is struggling with continued high unemployment and concern about the ability of the U.S. economy to generate enough new jobs to bring down the unemployment rate.

Obama has highlighted green technologies like wind power as a promising source of job creation.

(Reporting by Doug Palmer, editing by Chris Wilson)