Qualampur: If the United States imposes tariffs on solar imports from South East Asia, the solar manufacturing sector of Malaysia may face plant closure or transfer as producers assured the cost of locally operation, Tera or SDN BHD Business Development Manager JP Liag said.
He said that some solar companies like Ginko in Penang are slowing out production or stopping production, so if the tariff environment remains harsh, manufacturers may leave Malaysia for other low cost, high-mang countries.
“If the tariff is firmly implemented, it may motivate some manufacturers to close or move other countries. Sunbiz Yesterday Barsa Malaysia in an interview on the occasion of Prithvi Week.
Although the solar energy player Tera VA does not panel from Malaysian factories, Lyong said production at some local sites is “slowing down”.
He said that many customers of Tera VA are in construction, some with exporting to America.
“Certainly, this US tariff will affect their plans, as a result, waiting for some tariff effects or clarity on potential Malaysian policy reactions, stopping solar installation projects. So they hold a little bit. But some are already approved or in progress – they will still move forward, especially with a possible power tariff hike.”
For a large part of its customers, Leong said they would still proceed with their solar installation plans as it is regulated, so it is nothing that companies can run without proper plan or guidance.
He said, “We update them as to what is the latest regulation and what will be the regulation, so they can take more accurate decisions,” he said.
However, Leong stated that the broad solar sector in Malaysia, especially installation and EPC (engineering, purchase and construction) activities would be largely unaffected.
He said, “Most local installer source panels directly from China, not the Malaysian-based factories affected by the new American trade restrictions. So the recent duty on Malaysia is unlikely to affect the solar region of Malaysia,” he said.
For Tera VA, Leong said that recent tariffs will not affect their solar installation work in Malaysia as it directly imports panels from China.
“There is also a lot of misunderstanding that panels will be oversee. No, while we meet China. Panels in Malaysia are usually for export, not for domestic use in America, Europe or other areas.”
He said that the domestic solar demand of Malaysia is small, so if it becomes ornate, they will simply be closed and will move elsewhere. “Other countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia have a lot of energy needs and large markets, which are more attractive to manufacturers.”
On Monday, the US Department of Commerce announced that it has finalized antidemping and counterwalling duties on solar imports from Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand, which is up to 3,521%high. In Malaysia, 34.4% of the country-wide duties are faced, and specific firms such as Ginko are hit with 40%.
The decision inspired the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee after a one -year trade investigation. These duties are at the top of US President Donald Trump’s tariff and aims to protect American manufacturers from alleged inappropriate foreign pricing/subsidy.
Solar tariffs would not be effective until the International Trade Commission voted for whether the US industry was physically damaged by imports. The vote should be held by June 2.
The US solar module is 77% of the imports in four countries, priced at US $ 12.9 billion (RM56.6 billion) in 2023.
American developers depend on affordable South East Asian modules, so duty increases cost, slow rollouts and increase project risk.
But this is a win for American manufacturers (first solar, hanva q cells), which says that Chinese firms transferred the previous tariff to Southeast Asia.
