中國太陽能企業永遠靈活，走到美國關稅鞭長莫及的更遠地區 (1/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

Chinese solar firms, ever-nimble, go further afield where US tariffs don't reach (1/2)

Mon, November 4, 2024 at 7:02 a.m. GMT+8·7 min read

By Lewis Jackson, Phuong Nguyen, Colleen Howe and Nichola Groom

(Reuters) - Some of the biggest Chinese-owned solar factories in Vietnam are cutting production and laying off workers, spurred on by the expansion of U.S. trade tariffs targeting it and three other Southeast Asian countries.

Meanwhile, in nearby Indonesia and Laos, a slew of new Chinese-owned solar plants are popping up, out of the reach of Washington's trade protections. Their planned capacity is enough to supply about half the panels installed in the U.S. last year, Reuters reporting shows.

Chinese solar firms have repeatedly shrunk output in existing hubs while building new factories in other countries, allowing them to sidestep tariffs and dominate the U.S. and global markets despite successive waves of U.S. tariffs over more than a decade designed to rein them in.

While Chinese firms have been moving their solar manufacturing for years, the scope of the shift to Indonesia and Laos in this latest phase has not previously been reported. More than a dozen people in five countries, including employees at Chinese plants, officials at non-Chinese solar companies and lawyers were interviewed for this article.

"It's a huge cat and mouse game," said William A. Reinsch, a former trade official in the Clinton administration and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"It's not that hard to move. You set up and you play the game again. The design of the rules is such that the U.S. is usually one step behind."

China accounts for about 80% of the world's solar shipments, while its export hubs elsewhere in Asia make up much of the rest, according to SPV Market Research. That's a sharp contrast to two decades ago when the U.S. was a global leader in the industry.

America's imports of solar supplies, meanwhile, have tripled since Washington began imposing its tariffs in 2012, hitting a record $15 billion last year, according to federal data. While almost none came directly from China in 2023, some 80% came from Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia – home to factories owned by Chinese firms.

Washington slapped tariffs on solar exports from those four Southeast Asia nations last year and expanded them in October following complaints from manufacturers in the United States.

Over the last 18 months, at least four Chinese or China-linked projects have begun operations in Indonesia and Laos, and another two have been announced. Together, the projects total 22.9 gigawatts (GW) in solar cell or panel capacity.

Much of that production will be sold in the United States, the world's second-biggest solar market after China and one of the most lucrative. U.S. prices have on average been 40% higher than those in China over the past four years, according to data from PVinsights.

U.S. solar producers have repeatedly stated in trade complaints lodged with the U.S. government that they can't compete with cheap Chinese products that they say are unfairly supported by subsidies from the Chinese government and the Asian countries they export from.

Chinese solar firms have countered that their mastery of the technology makes them more competitive on price.

Tariffs are a key theme in the U.S. election, with Republican former President Donald Trump proposing levies on all U.S. imports to stimulate U.S. manufacturing, including a 60% rate on any goods from China. His rival, Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris has said Trump's plan would raise costs for U.S. consumers.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, however, have shown support for tougher tariffs on China's solar shipments to nurture a domestic supply chain.

"Going forward, the American public should demand much stricter enforcement of tariffs, especially around (China's) use of third countries to break U.S. trade law," Republican Congressman John Moolenaar, Chairman of the House Select Committee on China, told Reuters.

The U.S. Department of Commerce, the White House and China's commerce ministry did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

(to be continued)

Translation

中國太陽能企業永遠靈活，走到美國關稅鞭長莫及的更遠地區 (1/2)

（路透社）- 受美國對越南和其他三個東南亞國家擴大貿易關稅的刺激，越南一些最大的中資太陽能工廠正在減產並裁員。

同時，在附近的印尼和寮國，大量新的中國擁有的太陽能板工廠正在湧現，避開華盛頓貿易保護的影響。根據路透社報道，他們的計劃產能足以供應去年在美國安裝的能板的一半左右。

中國太陽能企業一再縮減現有中心的產量，同時在其他國家建造新工廠，從而使它們能夠規避關稅, 以主導美國及全球市場，儘管美國在十多年來不斷用徵收關稅去遏制它們。

儘管中國企業多年來一直在將製造太陽能板轉移, 這次最新的轉移到印尼和寮國的範圍在此前並未被報導。本文訪問了來自五個國家的十幾位人士，包括中國工廠的員工、非中國太陽能公司的人員和律師。 

克林頓政府前貿易官員、戰略與國際研究中心高級顧問William A. Reinsch說: 「這是一場巨大的貓鼠遊戲」。

“遷移並不是那麼難。你安頓後然後從新再玩遊戲。規則的設計會是美國通常落後一步。”

SPV Market Research 的數據顯示，中國約佔全球太陽能出貨量的 80%，而亞洲其他地區的出口中心則佔了其餘大部分。這與二十年前形成鮮明對比，當時美國是該行業的全球領導者。

同時，根據聯邦數據，自華盛頓於 2012 年開始徵收關稅以來，美國太陽能產品的進口量增加了兩倍，去年達到創紀錄的 150 億美元。雖然在 2023 年幾乎沒有直接來自中國，但約有 80% 來自越南、泰國、馬來西亞和柬埔寨 - 這些都是中國公司擁有的工廠的所在地。

去年，華盛頓對這四個東南亞國家的太陽能出口徵收關稅，並在美國製造商提出投訴後於 10 月擴大關稅。

在過去 18 個月中，至少有四個中國或與中國相關的項目已在印尼和寮國開始運營，另外兩個項目也已宣布。這些項目的太陽能電池或電池板產能總計達 22.9 吉瓦 (GW)。

其中大部分產品將銷往美國，美國是僅次於中國的全球第二大太陽能市場，也是最賺錢的市場之一。 PVinsights的數據顯示，過去四年美國的價格平均比中國高出40%。

美國太陽能生產商在向美國政府提出的貿易投訴中多次表示，他們無法與廉價的中國產品競爭，他們稱這些產品受到中國政府及其出口亞洲國家的補貼的不公平支持。

中國太陽能公司反駁說，他們對技術的掌握使他們在價格上更具競爭力。

關稅是美國大選的關鍵主題，共和黨前總統特朗普提議對所有美國進口商品徵稅，以刺激美國製造業，其中包括對來自中國的所有商品徵收 60% 的關稅。他的競爭對手、民主黨副總統賀錦麗表示，特朗普的計劃將增加美國消費者的成本。

然而，兩黨立法者都表示支持對中國太陽能出口徵收更嚴格的關稅，以培育國內供應鏈。

眾議院中國問題特設委員會主席、共和黨眾議員John Moolenaar對路透社表示:「展望未來，美國公眾應該要求更嚴格地執行關稅，特別是在（中國）利用第三國違反美國貿易法的情況之下」。

美國商務部、白宮和中國商務部沒有回應路透社的置評要求。

（待續）