KULIM, Malaysia — Tucked away in this former tin-mining town, past the small farms of banana trees and oil palms, is one of the solar industry’s best-kept secrets.马来西亚居林——跨过小型香蕉园和油棕园，这座有过锡矿铁矿历史的城镇，隐蔽着太阳能行业被激进得最差的秘密之一。The six factories here with cavernous rooms up to one-third of a mile long constitute the production backbone of First Solar. Working alongside minivan-size robots adapted from car assembly plants and other industries, 3,700 employees produce five-sixths of the American company’s solar panels. Workers in Ohio make the rest.这里的六家工厂包含了第一太阳能公司(First Solar)的生产主力。这些工厂的厂房如洞穴般空旷，长可达三分之一英里（约合540米）。

这家美国公司有六分之五的太阳能电池组件，是由这里的3700名员工，连同小货车大小的机器人生产的。这些机器人是参考汽车组装厂和其他一些行业的作法改建而出的。

另外六分之一产品，则是由俄亥俄州的工人生产的。The list of manufacturers is long. Panasonic of Japan has a solar panel factory a mile down the road. SunEdison makes wafers 60 miles away in Chemor. Hanwha Q Cells and SunPower have giant factories even farther south, while Solexel, a Silicon Valley start-up, is preparing to build an $810 million solar panel factory in stages.这里还有其他很多制造商。日本松下电器(Panasonic)的一座太阳能组件厂坐落于这条路上一英里开外的地方，SunEdison的晶片工厂坐落于60英里（大约97公里）外的朱毛，韩华Q Cells和SunPower极大的工厂坐落于更加南边的地方，而硅谷创业公司Solexel于是以打算分阶段地修筑一座投资8.1亿美元（约合50亿元人民币）的太阳能组件工厂。Malaysia, a Southeast Asian nation with just 30 million people, is the biggest winner in the trade wars that have embroiled the solar sector. As Chinese companies have been hit with American tariffs and European quotas, Malaysia has increasingly attracted multinationals with its relatively low labor costs, lucrative tax breaks, warm relations with the West and abundance of English-speaking engineering talent.在令太阳能产业陷于恐慌的这场贸易战中，仅有3000万人口的东南亚国家马来西亚，出了仅次于的赢家。

随着中国公司遭美国关税和欧洲配额制的压制，马来西亚凭借其比较便宜的劳动力成本、昂贵的增税政策、与西方的友好关系，以及大量不会说道英语的工程人才，更有了更加多的跨国公司。Malaysia is now the world’s third-largest producer of solar equipment, trailing China by a wide margin but catching up rapidly with the European Union. And Malaysia’s role in the global solar trade is only likely to increase in the coming months if the American government broadens tariffs on panels made in China next Tuesday as expected.马来西亚现在是世界第三大太阳能设备生产国。虽然与中国的差距还相当大，但它正在很快追上欧盟。

同时，如果美国政府如预料的那样，在下周二针对中国生产的太阳能组件，不断扩大关税征税范围，马来西亚在全球太阳能贸易中的份额，在未来几个月里认同不会更进一步不断扩大。“We liked Malaysia because it was a cross between just a straight low-cost play and a high-engineering play — it was sort of in the middle, where it was lower-cost but good engineering,” said Tom Werner, the chief executive of the California-based SunPower, which manufactures half its solar panels in Malacca, Malaysia.“我们讨厌马来西亚，因为它在低成本的优势和低工程水平的优势之间，是一个交叉点。它在一定程度上正处于中间方位，成本较低，工程水平也不俗，”总部坐落于加利福尼亚州的SunPower公司首席执行官汤姆·维尔纳(Tom Werner)说道。

该公司一半的太阳能组件是在马来西亚的马六甲生产的。The solar manufacturing boom in Malaysia has been almost invisible, a rarity in an industry known for heavily promoting even the smallest factory opening or new solar panel farm as progress toward cleaner energy.马来西亚太阳能设备生产的兴旺完全不为人知。这一点极为少见，因为在这个从来不大力宣传的行业，即便是开办了一家十分小的工厂，或是新建了一座太阳能电厂，都会被描绘成迈进清洁能源的变革。Manufacturers don’t want to draw attention to moving production offshore. The factories here are almost entirely owned by American, European, South Korean and Japanese companies that much prefer to talk about operations in their home countries.生产企业不期望外界注意到它们把生产移往到了海外。

这里的工厂完全几乎由美国、欧洲、韩国和日本的公司所有，但这些企业更喜欢谈论它们在本国的业务。Hanwha Q Cells, for example, produces 1,100 megawatts a year worth of panels in Malaysia and just 200 megawatts in its home market in Germany. But the company highlights that the engineering work is still done at its headquarters in Thalheim, Germany.例如，韩华Q Cells每年在马来西亚生产1100兆瓦的太阳能板，在德国本国的产量仅有为200兆瓦。但这家公司特别强调，工程设计工作依然由坐落于德国塔尔海姆的总部来已完成。Production in Malaysia “gives us the flexibility to reliably address very different and dynamic international market needs with high-quality products ‘Engineered in Germany,’ ” said Jochen Endle, a company spokesman.在马来西亚的产量“让我们享有了充份的灵活性，需要以德国设计的高质量产品，可信地应付十分有所不同且大大变化的国际市场需求，”该公司发言人大约亨·恩德尔(Jochen Endle)说道。

It is a common theme. The technology comes from overseas, but the employees and most of the materials are Malaysian.这种情况很广泛。技术来自海外，但员工和多数原材料来自马来西亚本土。

Except for two expatriates in the finance department, all of First Solar’s 3,700 employees on three shifts are local hires. A few materials are imported from the United States, like certain electrical cables. But most others are now bought from Malaysian suppliers, like cord plates.除了财务部有两名外国人，第一太阳能的3700名员工都是在马来西亚本地聘用的，他们必须拒绝接受三班倒的工作制度。只有少数原材料就是指美国进口的，比如某些电缆。多数其他原材料目前就是指马来西亚的供应商那里订购，比如线板。“Localization of materials is part of our strategy of continuous cost reduction,” said AR. Jeyaganesh, First Solar’s plant manager, walking across an immaculate floor at one of the 24 production lines here, each an exact replica of the company’s four lines in Perrysburg, Ohio.“原材料的本地化是我们大大缩减成本的策略中的一环，”第一太阳能公司的经理AR·杰亚格奈什(AR. Jeyaganesh)一旁说道着，一旁从生产线纹路的地板上走到。

这样的生产线在马来西亚有24条，每条都跟公司在俄亥俄州佩里斯堡的四条生产线一模一样。Multinationals are also hustling to introduce their latest inventions just as quickly here as in their home markets, to maintain standardized production techniques and quality. “When the decision is made” to add more robots or make other production changes, Mr. Jeyaganesh said, “it happens almost simultaneously in Perrysburg and here.”跨国公司在这里争相引入他们近期的发明者，速度和在本国市场一样慢，从而保持标准化的生产工艺和质量。

杰亚格奈什说道，“当我们作出要求的时候”，比如减少机器人数量，或在生产方面作出转变，“在这里和佩里斯堡完全是同步进行的。”Malaysia’s surge in the solar industry has irritated some of the original backers of American trade action against China. Critics say the goal was to create jobs in the United States, not Southeast Asia.马来西亚太阳能行业的快速增长，触怒了一些原本反对美国对中国采行贸易行动的人。抨击人士说道，这么做到的目标是在美国建构低收入，不是在东南亚。

“In solar, a key technology to achieve our energy efficiency goals, the administration needs to implement a more aggressive and comprehensive trade strategy,” said Michael R. Wessel, a member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, an advisory group created by Congress. “If not, we’ll simply trade our historical dependence on foreign oil for a dependence on foreign energy technologies and products.”“太阳能是构建节约能源目标的关键技术，在这个行业，政府必须采行更为大力和全面的贸易政策，”美国国会成立的顾问机构美中经济安全性审查委员会(U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission)的成员迈克尔·R·韦赛尔(Michael R. Wessel)说道。“否则，我们只是从对外国石油的长年倚赖，转变成对外国能源技术和产品的倚赖。

”Malaysia is a beneficiary of the complex interaction of global trade rules, economic competitiveness and environmental policies in the solar industry. Tariffs have had the most immediate effect.全球贸易规则、经济竞争力和太阳能行业环保政策之间的简单关系，让马来西亚借此获益。其中关税带给的影响最必要。

Solar prices started plummeting during the global financial crisis in 2009, as Chinese factories swiftly increased production, buoyed by large loans from state-owned banks at preferential interest rates, and free or nearly free land from local governments. Chinese manufacturers were also dumping panels, or selling them for less than it cost to make and ship them.中国工厂曾以优惠的利率从国有银行取得大量贷款，并从当地政府那里免费或者几近免费地取得土地使用权，它们的产量很快提升，在2009年全球金融危机期间，太阳能产品价格开始急剧下降。中国制造商也开始低价电池板，即以高于生产和运输成本的价格出售它们。A flood of cheap Chinese exports caused two dozen solar manufacturers in the United States and Europe to go bankrupt or close factories. The United States responded in 2012 by imposing stiff anti-subsidy and anti-dumping duties totaling about 30 percent on panels from China. The European Union set import quotas and minimum prices for Chinese panels last year.廉价的中国产品像洪水一样黄泥来，造成美国和欧洲二十几家太阳能制造商倒闭或投产。

美国在2012年作出对此，对中国太阳能电池板征税反补贴和反倾销税，总计大约30%。去年，欧盟也针对中国太阳能电池板原作了进口配额和低于价格。On Tuesday, the Commerce Department is widely expected to broaden its steep duties on solar panels from China. Pending litigation would impose duties on panels made partly in China and partly in Taiwan, closing a loophole that allowed some Chinese companies to bypass the original duties.本周二，市场广泛预期美国商务部将进一步提高中国太阳能电池板的关税。

决诉讼将对那些部分在中国，部分在台湾生产的电池板征税关税，从而挡住中国公司跨过原关税的漏洞。The plunge in prices through 2013, which leveled off as Chinese giants like Suntech Power and LDK Solar began going bankrupt from underpricing their panels, put a heavy emphasis on cost competitiveness. China’s rapidly rising wages, together with mounting geopolitical tensions, prompted multinationals to look elsewhere as well.在低价销售电池板的尚德电力和江西赛维等中国太阳能巨头南北倒闭后，2013年的价格下跌趋于平稳，它凸显了成本竞争的极大重要性。中国工资水平的很快下降，再行再加日益紧绷的地缘政治局势，促成跨国公司把目光投向了别处。

That gave an edge to Malaysia, with its fairly low pay for skilled engineers and machinery operators.这给马来西亚带给了机会，在当地，技能娴熟的工程师和机械操作工工资非常较低。One of Malaysia’s biggest attractions is the 10-year exemption from corporate taxes for large domestic and foreign investors. While some American states offer breaks, comparable holidays from federal taxes are not available.马来西亚最有吸引力的地方是，对国内外大型投资者减免10年企业税。尽管美国一些州获取税收免除措施，但却没类似于的联邦征税政策。The Office of the United States Trade Representative expressed concern this year about Malaysia’s tax breaks in a review of trade policies. The White House agency has asked Malaysia to provide details of how they work so other countries can assess whether the tax breaks violate a World Trade Organization ban on export subsidies.在今年的一次贸易政策调查中，美国贸易代表对马来西亚的税收免除政策传达了注目。

白宫机构早已拒绝马来西亚递交涉及材料，以便其他国家评估这些政策否违背了世贸组织的出口补贴禁令。Malaysia denies breaking any trade rules. “All of the incentives, all the things that we do, are W.T.O.-compliant,” said Senator Idris Jala, Malaysia’s minister for economic development and efficiency.马来西亚坚称自己违背了任何贸易规则。“我们获取的各种鼓舞方式，做到的各种事情，全都合乎世贸组织标准，”参议员伊特利斯·亚拉(Idris Jala)说道，他是马来西亚负责管理经济发展和效率的部长。

The tax break cinched the deal for First Solar to set up most of its production here, said Maja Wessels, an executive vice president at the company.在税收免除政策的鼓舞下，第一太阳能公司要求把大部分生产环节决定在这里，该公司的继续执行副总裁玛雅·威尔斯(Maja Wessels)回应。“That’s easy, the 10-year tax holiday,” she said. “When you look at solar manufacturing, and our manufacturing in particular, low labor costs contribute, but those taxes are critical.”“这个要求从不艰难，马来西亚有10年的征税期，”她说道。“对于太阳能生产，尤其是我们公司的生产而言，便宜的劳动力成本很有益处，但至关重要的是税收政策。

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