Trump Tariffs: Southeast Asia Solar Industry at Risk
- tariffs on solar panel exports from Southeast Asia take effect.
- The tariffs, ranging from 375% to over 3,500%, target imports from Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Malaysia.
- reached $3.7 billion in 2023,second only to Vietnam's $3.9 billion.
New U.S. tariffs are crippling Thailand’s solar industry, jeopardizing its $3.7 billion in exports and causing factory closures and job losses.The duties, targeting Southeast Asian solar panel imports, stem from U.S. concerns over Chinese firms allegedly circumventing existing tariffs.These measures threaten the region’s role as a major solar supplier, perhaps disrupting 80% of U.S. solar imports. The closure of Standard Energy Co.’s $300 million facility highlights the immediate impact. Analysts predict potential relocation of manufacturing, while others foresee Chinese companies shifting focus. Policymakers and industry experts weigh the economic ripple effects and the implications for both Southeast Asia’s and the U.S.’s clean energy goals. News Directory 3 has the latest analysis. Discover what’s next for Thailand’s solar sector and the global green energy transition…
US Tariffs Threaten Thailand Solar Exports, Jobs
Updated June 11, 2025
Thailand’s solar industry is reeling as new U.S. tariffs on solar panel exports from Southeast Asia take effect. Chonlada Siangkong, a worker at a solar cell factory in Rayong, Thailand, learned via text message that she had lost her job after Standard Energy Co., a subsidiary of Singaporean solar cell giant GSTAR, closed it’s doors last month.
The tariffs, ranging from 375% to over 3,500%, target imports from Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Malaysia. These duties are a response to what U.S. officials describe as China’s circumvention of existing tariffs by using Southeast Asian countries to “dump” cheap solar panels into the U.S. market, allegedly harming american businesses. The tariffs cast a shadow over the future of Southeast Asia’s solar export trade, which accounts for approximately 80% of solar products sold in the U.S.
Thai solar exports to the U.S. reached $3.7 billion in 2023,second only to Vietnam’s $3.9 billion. Standard Energy Co.’s $300 million Rayong facility, operational for less than a year, produced its first solar cell in August.
Kanyawee, a production line manager at Standard Energy, expressed his surprise at the sudden closure. “New machines have just landed and we barely used them,” Kanyawee said, noting the notable investment in equipment and raw materials.
ben McCarron, managing director of Asia Research & Engagement, said Southeast Asian manufacturers face a serious threat from increasing U.S. protectionism. “There are suggestions that manufacturing might exit Southeast Asia entirely if tariffs are introduced,” McCarron said.He added that thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia accounted for about 80% of U.S. solar imports in 2024, and some manufacturers have already begun shutting down and relocating.
U.S. officials have identified several companies, including Jinko Solar, Trina Solar, Taihua New Energy Hounen, Sunshine Electrical Energy, Runergy, and Boviet, as offenders. These companies have significant operations in Thailand,Malaysia,Cambodia,or Vietnam.
Tara Buakamsri, an adviser to Greenpeace, noted the impact extends beyond low-skilled labor. “Many workers in the solar cell supply chain are technicians, skilled laborers,” Buakamsri said, emphasizing that even with savings, solar cell exporters would need to cut skilled workers.
Others believe Chinese solar firms will continue to drive the supply of products needed to meet regional emissions targets. Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Vietnam are seeking to meet more of their energy needs with cleaner sources. Thailand, for example, aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2065.
McCarron suggests that a slowdown in solar exports could be absorbed by domestic markets in Southeast Asia, particularly if governments use the situation to accelerate policy initiatives that stimulate domestic solar energy production.
Pavida Pananond, a professor of international business at Thammasat Business School in Bangkok, said that while Thailand’s solar cell production is heavily export-driven, the tariffs will also hurt American consumers and the green transition in the U.S. as prices increase.
What’s next
the future of Southeast Asia’s solar industry hinges on governments reducing bureaucracy and loosening the control of oil and gas monopolies over the energy mix.The U.S.’s exclusion of Southeast Asian solar imports could also hinder its own shift towards greener energy.