US tariffs threaten panel production and jobs in Thailand

Chinese solar companies turned Thailand into a solar module assembly hub. Now, thousands of Thai workers are bearing the brunt of a trade war between Washington and Beijing.

- Nicha Wachpanich

On a humid day in February, a small group of workers huddled in front of a large solar panel factory in Thailand's biggest manufacturing hub in the eastern coastal province of Chonburi, home to some of the world's top solar panel producers.

The men and women, mostly in their 20s, were all hoping to land a job on a production line assembling solar cells into panels destined for export.

They knew they might not hold the job for very long after reading former employees' complaints on social media about work being regularly cut when orders were low.

But the company promised fair pay and, needing work, they were willing to take the risk.

That risk is growing, with Thailand's solar industry now caught in an escalating trade war between the US and China, with Thai solar workers paying the price.

Large Chinese companies dominate Thailand's solar manufacturing industry, which produces solar cells and panels for export to the US market.

But as Washington erects trade barriers to protect its home-grown solar sector from a rising tide of cheap Chinese imports, Thailand's industry is being squeezed.

Solar manufacturers that rely heavily on Chinese components in South-east Asia's second-largest economy are now facing nearly 400 per cent tariffs on their products exported to the US.

Analysts say the tariffs threaten to hurt Thailand's manufacturing sector and its workers, and could have a knock-on impact on solar roll-out in the country.

But the changing trade landscape also creates an opportunity for producers to find new markets, including by accelerating solar deployment and the energy transition across South-east Asia.

THE HEAT OF THE SOLAR TRADE WAR

For more than a decade, the US has waged a tariff war on growing imports of cheap Chinese solar panels, which it says harm its domestic industry.