The future of Southeast Asia’s booming solar industry, which produces the most panels in the world after China, is being thrown into doubt as the US looks set to impose hefty tariffs on the region.
Chinese firms that set up factories there over the last decade are now being accused of skirting US import levies on their home market. At least three—including Longi Green Energy Technology Co. and Trina Solar Co.—have scaled back operations in Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia, which, along with Cambodia, are being targeted by Washington.
The uncertainty underscores broader turbulence in clean energy supply chains as the US, Europe and others seek to claw back some market share from China, which dominates the production of solar equipment as well as electric vehicle batteries. The Chinese solar firms are also struggling with a worsening domestic glut that’s already seen a number of smaller players go under.
Washington moved closer to instituting the tariffs in June, with the US International Trade Commission passing an initial vote determining manufacturers are being harmed by cheap imports from Southeast Asia. Trina’s Thailand cell factory is still operating normally, and it will decide what to do with its Southeast Asian facilities depending on the outcome of the latest round of the US probe, it said in a statement. Jinko didn’t respond to a request for comment, while JA Solar Co. said its plant in Vietnam is operating normally.
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