To assume the U.S. is imposing tariffs on Chinese goods in response to the pending sentencing of Sinovel for stealing AMSC proprietary technology is indeed an heroic assumption, as is the notion that some of the tariffs generated from Chinese exports to the U.S. would be used to pay AMSC in light of the purported inability of Sinovel to make good.
Tariffs on Chinese goods, along with related policies to prevent Chinese companies from buying either components or the technology itself emanating from U.S. companies has little, if anything to do with AMSC. Rather, it clearly has to do with an attempt to convince the president's political supporters that he delivers on what he has promised – placing tariffs on Chinese goods to create more U.S. jobs. It is a policy akin to cutting paper with an axe instead of scissors. It can't and won't work very well, and if anything, will create enough animosity to make China resist paying AMSC.
In other words, it's counterproductive.
If the administration really wanted to be effective in regard to AMSC, it would threaten to ban certain Chinese products from being exported anywhere, through the use of sanctions. Sinovel has been increasing its export business. Countries buying sanctioned products made by Sinovel would themselves be penalized on their exports to the U.S., not necessarily by the use of tariffs but more effectively by import quotas, as low as zero.
It should also be relevant to AMSC that other American companies doing business in China have also been stiffed on the issue of IP theft, in the form of non-payment of royalties. Qualcomm, for example, still reports that one Chinese company that uses Qualcomm patents in its wireless communications business has not signed a licensing agreement and continues not paying royalties. The company at issue is thought by some to be Huawei, the third largest cell phone maker in the world.
It is noteworthy that the administration has done little to help either Qualcomm or AMSC, but in the case of Qualcomm makes the excuse that it at least prevented the acquisition of Qualcomm by Broadcom, which until recently was headquartered in Singapore. Given the experiences of both AMSC and Qualcomm, I have very little expectation that the administration knows enough about solving these problems to bring about a positive outcome.
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