The impact of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade strategy, specifically his aggressive tariff regime, continues to reverberate across the global solar manufacturing industry, with Chinese manufacturers bearing the brunt of the economic pressure.
In the latest quarterly results, top solar producers in China — including Longi Green Energy, JinkoSolar, JA Solar, and Trina Solar — reported substantial net losses.
Longi and JinkoSolar each posted losses of 1.4 billion yuan ($193 million) in the first quarter. JA Solar and Trina Solar reported losses of 1.6 billion yuan and 1.3 billion yuan, respectively. This financial strain follows a broader annual loss of 8.6 billion yuan for Longi in 2024.
A central factor behind these losses is a convergence of supply chain challenges, declining product prices, and intensified global trade restrictions — particularly from the U.S. market, which historically has been one of the largest for solar products, Reuters news report said.
JinkoSolar highlighted that demand has weakened due to suppressed pricing across the supply chain and growing limitations from foreign trade policy.
JinkoSolar’s quarterly sales volume for solar products — including silicon wafers, solar cells, and modules — dropped by 12.68 percent to 19,130 megawatts. Although markets in Asia Pacific and Africa showed relative growth, the dominant markets of China, the U.S., and Europe remain vital but constrained.
Despite this, only 5 percent of Jinko’s sales in the quarter came from the U.S., reflecting the difficulty of competing under steep trade barriers. Notably, tariffs on Chinese goods entering the U.S. currently stand at a punishing 145 percent, a figure stemming from Trump-era trade policy, aimed at reshoring American manufacturing and countering perceived unfair trade practices.
The ramifications of this policy extend beyond China’s borders. Anticipating or responding to tariffs, many Chinese firms had relocated portions of their production capacity to Southeast Asian nations such as Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. This strategy was initially seen as a workaround to U.S. tariffs.
However, American manufacturers responded with trade petitions, leading to further investigations and punitive measures. In a dramatic escalation, the U.S. recently finalized tariffs as high as 3,500 percent on Chinese-origin solar products manufactured in those third countries, effectively closing another route for market access. These extreme duties reflect a protectionist strategy intended to defend U.S. producers but have also disrupted global supply chains and contributed to higher costs for solar deployment domestically.
The consequences are not limited to solar panels alone. Chinese manufacturers like Jinko are also facing difficulties selling battery storage systems to the U.S., where high tariffs have made such sales financially unviable. Other firms are now actively recalibrating their global strategies.
CSI Solar, a subsidiary of Canadian Solar, announced plans to accelerate its shift to low-tariff production zones and is in discussions with both clients and suppliers to share the burden of increased costs. Furthermore, the company is also preparing for a potential shift in trade relations, exploring the possibility of tariff exemptions and positioning itself for any recalibration of U.S.-China trade policy under future negotiations.
Baburajan Kizhakedath