US tariffs soar to 3500%, unable to stop the globalization of Chinese photovoltaic products!

One wave after another, the US tariff stick has finally fallen.

 

Recently, the US has frequently wielded the tariff stick, making global markets nervous. Many photovoltaic professionals are also worried that this fierce trade friction will have a significant impact on China's photovoltaic industry.

 

But PV Headline (WeChat ID: PV-2005) believes: There is no need to panic! China's photovoltaic industry is no longer a "sapling in a greenhouse," and the impact of US tariffs is far less than imagined.

 

Why this confidence? Read on for a detailed breakdown.

 

Up to 3521%!

The US imposes high anti-dumping and countervailing duties again

 

PV Headline (WeChat ID: PV-2005) learned that, according to foreign media reports, on April 21, the US government decided to impose high tariffs on solar manufacturers in Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

 

The report points out that solar cells and panels will face "anti-subsidy duties" depending on the country of origin: Vietnam 395.5%, Thailand 375.2%, Malaysia 34.4%. Particularly noteworthy is that, due to Cambodia's "refusal to cooperate with the investigation," solar products from Cambodia will face tariffs as high as 3521%.

 

The report states that the US International Trade Commission will vote on the above decision in June to determine the final tariff levels.

 

It is understood that the four Southeast Asian countries currently supply about 77% of the photovoltaic components to the US, with a total value of $12.9 billion in solar equipment exports to the US in 2024. This tariff decision is the final result of a year-long trade investigation.

 

China's photovoltaic production capacity has entered the world stage

 

Does the US think that by blocking Southeast Asia, it can choke China's photovoltaic industry?

 

Actually, no! China's photovoltaic production capacity has already globalized!

 

Even better, China's photovoltaic industry is shifting from "product export" to "technology export".

 

After US President Trump returned to the White House, he continuously wielded the "tariff stick," not only continuing the previous strategy of encircling and suppressing China's trade, but also intensifying the scope, intensity, and precision of sanctions. Trump used cutting funds and increasing tariffs to encircle and suppress China's photovoltaic industry. (See: Trump's tariff encirclement and suppression, unstoppable Chinese photovoltaic industry! )

 

In fact, the US has been suppressing China's photovoltaic industry for a long time.

 

Since 2011, the US and the EU have launched "double anti-dumping" investigations against Chinese photovoltaic products, imposing high tariffs. Under the influence of trade barriers, with the rapid development of the global photovoltaic industry, Chinese photovoltaic companies began to build factories in Southeast Asia around 2012, using local procurement and production to adapt to the global development of the photovoltaic industry.

 

As an important window for the overseas layout of Chinese photovoltaic companies, after years of development, Southeast Asia has formed a photovoltaic industry cluster of a certain scale, attracting many upstream and downstream enterprises to gather.
 

 

For example, in Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand, leading companies such as LONGi Green Energy and Trina Solar have invested in and built production bases. In addition, there are quartz sand, photovoltaic glass, inverters, and other auxiliary materials and equipment companies' business layouts, forming an integrated overseas production capacity and a complete supply chain system, which helps companies reduce procurement and transportation costs and improve production efficiency.

 

 

Even though the US has frequently imposed high tariffs on Southeast Asia in recent years, it cannot suppress the development of China's photovoltaic industry. In addition to Southeast Asia, Chinese photovoltaic companies have begun to invest in global layouts in the Middle East, South America, Southeast Asia, etc., and the US is no longer China's main photovoltaic market globally.

 

 

Therefore, China's photovoltaic industry is no longer a "foreign trade processing plant" that relies on external factors, but a "strategic new engine" for global energy transformation. When the US tariff stick dances, China's photovoltaic industry stands on the triple heights of technology, production capacity, and market, watching the world change!

 

From "important" to "insignificant"

No matter how high the US tariffs are

They cannot shake the status of Chinese photovoltaics

 

In fact, under the influence of Trump's tariff policy, the US has gradually become "insignificant" from an important export market for Chinese photovoltaics.

 

From the perspective of market structure evolution, in the early days, the US, with its huge energy demand, once occupied an important position in China's photovoltaic export market. In recent years, after experiencing multiple rounds of "double anti-dumping" investigations, Section 201 tariffs, anti-circumvention investigations, and other trade protection measures, its share in China's photovoltaic export map has continued to decline, and it has long lost its former dominant position.

 

Customs statistics show that from 2020 to 2024, China's photovoltaic cell and module exports decreased from $442 million to $129 million, and the global export share also decreased from 2.23% to 0.42%.

 

 

After years of development, China's photovoltaic industry has become an important part of the global industrial chain.

 

According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in 2024, the national output of polysilicon, silicon wafers, cells, and modules all increased by more than 10% year-on-year, the industry's output value remained in the trillions, and the export volume of photovoltaic cells and modules increased by more than 40% and 12%, respectively.

 

In the polysilicon sector, the national output exceeded 1.82 million tons in the first 12 months, an increase of 23.6% year-on-year; in the silicon wafer sector, the national output reached 753GW in the first 12 months, an increase of 12.7% year-on-year, with exports of about 60.9GW; in the cell sector, the national output reached 654GW in the first 12 months, an increase of 10.6% year-on-year, with exports of about 57.5GW; in the module sector, the national output reached 588GW in the first 12 months, an increase of 13.5% year-on-year, with exports of about 238.8GW.

 

 

In fact, the US's own photovoltaic installations experienced a downturn during Trump's term. In 2016, the US's newly installed photovoltaic capacity reached 15.14GW, but in the three years after Trump took office, the US's newly installed photovoltaic capacity remained around 10GW, until 2020 did it recover somewhat.

 

In addition, with the booming development of the global new energy market, Europe, Asia, Africa, and other regions have increased their investment in clean energy, creating a broader market space. In Asia, countries such as India and Vietnam are also actively promoting energy structure transformation, providing new opportunities for Chinese photovoltaic companies.

 

Data shows that as early as five years ago, Chinese photovoltaic companies launched a "global shipbuilding plan" and began to plan to deploy overseas production capacity. Even more impressive is that China's photovoltaic industry has shifted from "product export" to "technology export", achieving a generational leap in technology: LONGi's perovskite tandem cell efficiency has exceeded 34.85%, setting a world record; GCL's granular silicon technology has reduced silicon material costs by 40%, with a global market share exceeding 60%...

 

This shows that the US tariff tyranny cannot affect the global development of China's photovoltaic industry!

 

The US is no longer the main market for Chinese photovoltaic exports. From a must-have to an option, no matter how high the US increases tariffs on Chinese photovoltaics, it cannot shake the position and development of China's photovoltaic industry and enterprises.

 

Actively deploying global production capacity

The future of Chinese photovoltaic enterprises is bright.

 

According to IEA Renewables 2024 predictions, by 2030, global renewable energy generation will meet nearly half of electricity demand. By 2030, the total newly installed capacity of global clean energy will be three times that of 2017-2023. By 2030, an estimated 80% of the 5500 GW of newly added clean energy capacity worldwide will come from solar energy.

 

According to the latest report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), China's newly installed photovoltaic capacity in 2025 will reach 302 GW, an 8.8% year-on-year increase from 2024 (277.57 GW), accounting for 50.7%-56.8% of the predicted global total (531-596 GW) in 2025, exceeding the combined total of the US and Europe.

 

According to statistics from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), as of March 2025, more than 150 countries and regions worldwide have proposed carbon neutrality goals. 32 countries, such as Germany, have already legislated on carbon neutrality, and 53 countries have developed relevant policy documents. Among various renewable energy sources, photovoltaics have great development potential and are suitable for large-scale development. It is considered an important driving force for achieving carbon neutrality, with high long-term potential and growth certainty, and a broad development prospect.

 

In addition, countries such as Germany, the EU, Japan, Brazil, Hungary, Italy, Canada, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkey, Pakistan, and African countries have successively introduced a series of favorable policies for clean energy and photovoltaics, injecting strong impetus into their development.

 

 

Therefore, the overseas development prospects of Chinese photovoltaic companies remain broad.

 

In addition, the globalization of Chinese photovoltaic companies has accelerated, and the layout of photovoltaic production capacity has taken shape.

 

According to data from Chinese customs, in the first quarter of 2025, the top 20 export markets for Chinese photovoltaic components were the Netherlands, Pakistan, India, Brazil, Spain, France, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, Australia, Japan, the Philippines, the UAE, Chile, Belgium, Colombia, Germany, South Africa, Slovenia, Thailand, and Greece. This shows that the globalization effect of Chinese photovoltaics has begun to emerge.

 

 

PV Headline (WeChat ID: PV-2005) believes that in the face of tariff tug-of-war, China's photovoltaic industry will not give up. There is no need to panic. Dependence on any single market carries risks; diversified development is the long-term plan for enterprises. While US tariff policies have presented challenges to China's photovoltaic industry, they have also accelerated the transformation and upgrading of China's photovoltaic manufacturing industry.

In the long scroll of the carbon-neutral era, the global wave of energy transformation is surging.

Even if the frost of tariffs and the shadow of trade barriers still linger, they cannot stop the sun's rays.

——When the first ray of sunlight leaps over the photovoltaic panels, when millions of power stations grow into a galaxy in deserts and on rooftops, we see that the photovoltaic industry, which follows the light, is opening the door to the earth's future with vigorous vitality.

Source: PV Headline