Solar cell and module manufacturer TSEC Corp (元晶) yesterday said that it has seen customer inquiries rise, as US vendors seek to source cost-effective replacements after Washington imposed a punitive tariff of 3,521 percent on solar imports from Southeast Asian countries.
That could provide a boost to TSEC’s diversification to foreign markets, as growth at home is losing steam, it said.
The US’ move came after it wrapped up a year-long investigation into allegations of China exporting solar products to the US at unfair prices.
Photo courtesy of TSEC Corp
Investigators found that a number of Chinese solar companies have allocated operations to Southeast Asia to circumvent duties on Chinese goods since the start of US President Donald Trump’s first term.
The US is targeting companies in Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam in response to allegations of subsidies from China and the dumping of unfairly cheap products in the US.
“Due to the hefty tariffs, TSEC has received rising inquiries about potential cooperation opportunities from US vendors,” TSEC said in a statement. “Moreover, that [US tariffs] would boost manufacturing costs for solar products made in Southeast Asian countries in the long term.”
TSEC said in an annual report released last week that it has been exploring overseas business opportunities since 2023 to avoid being overly dependent on the domestic market.
The company aims to boost the US and Japanese markets’ share of its revenues to 30 percent in the third quarter of this year at the earliest, to fill the void left by the home market, the report said.
TSEC also said it was in talks with about 15 solar module companies and has sent solar cell samples for verification at some of these US companies, it added.
Taiwan could take its cue from the US government, and launch anti-dumping and anti-subsidy probes into unreasonably low-priced solar imports, the company said.
It attributed last year’s losses to unfair competition from imported solar products and a slowdown in solar system installation due to the presidential election, leading to a slump of 40.7 percent annually in solar module shipments last year.
Imported solar products took up about 65 percent of the domestic solar market, TSEC said, resulting in its market share sliding to 24 percent last year from 30 percent in the previous year.
TSEC swung into a loss of NT$600 million (US$18.48 million) last year, from a net profit of NT$527 million in 2023. That translated into losses per share of NT$1.17 last year, versus earnings per share of NT$1.07 in the previous year.
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