Danish Polytech may start this week with some completely new challenges. US President Trump has just declared high tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, and Polytech is in the special situation that the company is located in two of the three countries. Polytech is located with factories in Mexico and China and its head office in Denmark.
- We are looking at the situation, said the director in an interview with Energiwatch, which the media conducted last week, i.e. before the tariffs were finally announced.
Polytech produces advanced security and monitoring solutions for wind turbines.
Question: Is it a problem?
- I think it is a problem. I think it will be a problem, and I don't think it will be positive for us. But I don't know what it will end up with. It's never fun with that kind of thing, because what do we do?
Allan Kristensen notes, however, that there are many wind projects that have already been started.
- But there are so many projects that have been started in the USA - also in Republican states, so there is a market for a long time yet. And there is a consensus that not only wind is needed, but all energy, because it is lacking.
But the plans in Polytech, which are to stem the effects of punitive tariffs, could trigger the company to move.
- Our location could easily become a problem, and we can easily imagine that we will start American production at some point.
He explains that they have refused to do so so far.
- We have chosen not to do that so far because we are using the Nafta agreement, which Trump was very opposed to in his first term in office. But he railed against it, renegotiated it, but where it actually meant that it continued largely unchanged.
And that is why he is looking ahead.
- The same could happen now.
But Polytech's physical location could be something that has consequences. Also because Trump is already announcing tariffs on the EU too.
- Yes, it will if they come, but let's see. You can also turn it around. Will there be a punitive tariff of 25 percent in Mexico. But it will still be much cheaper to produce in Mexico than in the USA. US production will be much more expensive than plus 25 percent. tariff in Mexico.
The tariff rate was 25 percent, Trump announced over the weekend.
- And with the immigration policy that Trump is running, wages will become an increasing expense in the USA, because there will be a shortage of labor.
He already sees it as a problem today.
- Today, many people have difficulty finding labor in the USA. We have invested in our own machines, so we will be able to move around quickly if necessary. But it is just incredibly difficult to make decisions now. We are probing the terrain and have built up warehouses to the extent we can. But we are not making any decisions now.
Question: Are these uncertain times for you?
- They have become uncertain about the USA, the rest of the world looks fine. We look at the orders from Vestas and Siemens, we look at their accounts and what they are getting in terms of orders, and it looks reasonable now. Vestas had the second best order intake last quarter. Siemens is getting more orders, the Chinese are growing. So it seems reasonable, and the USA is not that important to us.
It would be a shame if there was a drop over there, but we have two big customers there, and that is GE and Vestas, so our US issues are more about talking to them about what they expect.”
Question: But you don't rule out the possibility of moving to the US?
- I think we will in the future with service and sales, because that is what we will do in the long term. We are looking at dedicated production right now, we haven't made a decision on that yet.
amp
Text, graphics, images, sound, and other content on this website are protected under copyright law. DK Medier reserves all rights to the content, including the right to exploit the content for the purpose of text and data mining, cf. Section 11b of the Copyright Act and Article 4 of the DSM Directive.
Customers with IP agreements/major customer agreements may only share Danish Offshore Industry articles internally for the purpose of handling specific cases. Sharing in connection with specific cases refers to journaling, archiving, or similar uses.
Customers with a personal subscription/login may not share Danish Offshore Industry articles with individuals who do not themselves have a personal subscription to Danish Offshore Industry.
Any deviation from the above requires written consent from DK Medier.
