Trump Orders Talks on Wind Turbine Imports
A national-security proclamation finds that imported wind turbines and their parts threaten U.S. security and orders the Commerce secretary and the trade representative to negotiate with foreign suppliers, with a progress report due within 180 days. It sets no new tariffs, and existing tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper stay as they are.
President Trump has found that imports of wind turbines and their parts are coming in "under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security of the United States," and has ordered trade negotiations rather than new tariffs. The proclamation, issued under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, directs Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to pursue agreements with foreign trading partners and update him on progress within 180 days.
It adopts findings from a Commerce Department investigation, opened in August 2025, that wind power is intermittent and burdens the grid, that foreign-made parts carry cybersecurity risks that could allow remote control of turbines, and that turbines can clutter radar used for air traffic control, weather forecasting and defense.
No new duties are imposed. Turbine parts made largely of steel, aluminum or copper already face national-security tariffs, and those stay unchanged. Trump wrote that depending on how the talks go, he "may consider alternative remedies in the future," and the law allows other steps, including tariffs, if no agreement is reached within 180 days. Major suppliers of turbines and parts to the United States include Mexico, France, India, Denmark and Germany.
President Trump has declared imported wind turbines a threat to national security and ordered his trade officials to negotiate with the countries that supply them, while holding off on new tariffs.
What the proclamation finds
The proclamation adopts the conclusions of a Commerce Department investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, a law that lets the president restrict imports judged to threaten national security. The probe was launched in August 2025. Commerce found that wind energy is "an unreliable and intermittent energy source" that diverts the grid from steadier sources, that foreign-made networked inverters used in wind farms are "an exploitable vulnerability that can allow remote access and interference with United States power systems," and that turbines can create radar "clutter" that obscures real targets, affecting air traffic control, weather forecasting and national defense. It also found that U.S. imports of turbine parts have risen over the last decade while domestic manufacturing capacity for some products, such as blades, "has not meaningfully increased."
What it orders
Lutnick and Greer are to jointly pursue or continue negotiations with any trading partners they consider appropriate and update the president at least once within 180 days. The Commerce Department will keep monitoring wind turbine imports and tell the president if further action looks necessary.
Major suppliers of wind turbines and components to the United States include Mexico, France, India, Denmark and Germany, according to trade data cited by the American Action Forum, a center-right research group. A spokesperson for the American Clean Power Association, which represents clean energy companies, was not immediately available for comment, Reuters reported.
What stays in place
No new tariff is imposed. The proclamation states that nothing in it changes the existing Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper, which already cover turbine parts made largely of those metals. "Depending on the status or outcome of such negotiations, I may consider alternative remedies in the future," Trump wrote. The proclamation notes that the law lets the president take other actions, including tariffs, if no agreement is reached within 180 days or an agreement is not carried out or proves ineffective.