Malaysia’s ‘China plus one’ gold rush stumbles over a US tariff threat

“Of course, we were all sad, but we just have to accept it as God’s will. It was a nice place to work and the salary was good,” said Benny, who asked that This Week in Asia withhold his full name due to confidentiality clauses tied to his lay-off.

On May 15, US authorities launched an anti-dumping investigation into solar panel exports from the four, responding to a petition from the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee. A two-year exemption from anti-dumping scrutiny the countries had previously enjoyed expired on June 6.

Just weeks later, Benny’s employer – one of the world’s largest solar module suppliers – laid him off as part of a broader downsizing. Jinko Solar has not commented on the closure of its Penang facility after nine years. Yet in a June interview, Li Zhenguo, founder of rival Longi, which operates in Malaysia’s Selangor, voiced concerns about the industry’s future amid a “clearly determined” US strategy to safeguard its solar market. “The question is if we should shut down factories in Southeast Asia or keep them as a backup,” he said, as reported by the Beijing-based Green Energy Daily.

US tariffs could soar as high as 270 per cent after the investigation wraps up, potentially obliterating the competitive edge that Southeast Asian manufacturing once enjoyed, warns Huaiyan Sun, a senior consultant on solar supply chains at global energy transition consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

But for now, Southeast Asia remains a hotspot, buoyed by its abundant supply of chips that are crucial for solar technology.

“For anything on national security … the US has shown it will not hesitate to take strict, appropriate action” to protect its interests, warned Wong Siew Hai, president of the Malaysian