Due to US Policies, Indonesian Solar Panel Factories Face Disruption
The National Energy Council (DEN) has revealed that the domestic solar panel industry is currently facing serious pressure due to high tariffs imposed by the United States (US). Export barriers to the US have resulted in suboptimal absorption of domestic production capacity.
DEN member Sripeni Inten Cahyani stated that Indonesia actually has a solar panel production capacity of around 11 Gigawatts (GW) per year. This capacity comes from about 5 GW for domestic needs and around 6 GW previously targeted for export markets.
“Currently, national production is 5 plus the current export, reaching around 6. So the total is 11 GW of PLTS production,” said Sripeni in Jakarta on Tuesday (21/4/2026).
However, the US policy of high tariffs on imported solar panel products, reported to reach up to 120%, makes it difficult for Indonesian products to enter that market. As a result, production previously allocated for export is now piling up.
“With taxes of 120% on some and 80% on others. Isn’t that crazy? So they can’t go there. Now it’s piling up,” she said.
This situation is being directly felt by industry players. One of them is PT Trina Mas Agra Indonesia, located in Kendal, Central Java. The factory, with a production capacity of around 1 GW per year, is reported to be experiencing operational disruptions due to minimal market absorption since the start of production.
“Because there’s been no absorption since production started; only the quota PLTS is absorbing. That’s why, as mentioned earlier, from 1.5 GW, the quota PLTS has truly become the dark horse,” said Sripeni.
As is known, after the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) between Indonesia and the United States (US) was signed on Thursday, 19 February 2026, US President Donald Trump suddenly dealt a blow to Indonesia’s solar panel industry.
Trump imposed retaliatory import duties (countervailing duty) of 104.38% on solar cells and panels imported from Indonesia. This Trump policy is also applied to similar products from India and Laos.
Not only that, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) imposed individual tariffs on several Indonesian companies, namely PT Blue Sky Solar at 143.3%, while PT REC Solar Energy at 85.99%.
The reason for these tariffs is to support similar factories in the US and claims that solar panel companies in Indonesia, India, and Laos have received subsidies from their governments. This has made products from similar industries in the US uncompetitive.
The reasoning used by the US feels like a severe blow to Indonesia. How not? With the ART pact already signed, Indonesia must provide maximum preferential treatment for US goods entering the domestic market.
In addition to 99% of US products enjoying tariff elimination and access to Indonesia’s 280 million population market, they will also proceed freely without having to comply with Indonesian technical regulations. And, if there are technical regulations, they must refer to US standards.