Indonesia has officially halted its solar panel exports to the United States after Washington imposed import tariffs of up to 114%, according to statements from top economic officials on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. The sudden market barrier shuts down a crucial trade route for Indonesian manufacturers who had rapidly ramped up production capacity to nearly 11 gigawatts.
Tariffs and Trade Pressures in Washington
The trade friction stems from a surge in Indonesian solar product shipments to the United States, which jumped by more than 100% over a single year. In response, the U.S. government under President Donald Trump moved to protect its domestic market by levying countervailing and anti-dumping duties. The protectionism policy targets a total import value of 4.5 billion dollars from Indonesia, India, and Laos.
These countervailing duties were applied by the U.S. government to suppress alleged government subsidies deemed disruptive to their domestic market pricing. International Trade Commission regarding injury to the U.S. solar industry.
AESI Urges Solar Industry to Diversify Export Markets
The Indonesian Solar Energy Association (AESI) is urging the national solar industry to pursue export market diversification amid the high tariff pressures from the United States. Herman Darnel Ibrahim, Chairman of the AESI Expert Council, noted that market pressures from the U.S. threaten expansion plans for manufacturers who originally built production capacity geared toward exporting to that destination, creating serious impacts and market uncertainty that could force companies to reevaluate investment plans, production capacity, and financing. Nevertheless, Herman stated that the most vital alternative market lies domestically, aligning with the government’s push to develop up to 100 gigawatts of solar power capacity as a domestic anchor market so that the industry does not have to rely primarily on foreign buyers, combining Indonesia’s large solar resources, rising electricity demand, and broad domestic market without pitting domestic and export strategies against one another.
Shifting Focus to Domestic Clean Energy Demand
Rather than letting national manufacturing capacity sit idle, the Indonesian government is pivoting entirely toward the domestic market. President Prabowo Subianto’s administration is pushing to absorb the surplus production through a massive national clean energy agenda targeting 100 gigawatt-peaks (GWp) of solar power capacity. Airlangga emphasized that the high tariffs automatically close export market access for Indonesian solar panels to the United States, confirming that It is confirmed that we can no longer export solar panels to America.
during his remarks at the Financial Hall in Graha CIMB Niaga, Jakarta on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026.
By transforming the domestic market into the primary anchor for local manufacturing, the government aims to insulate green energy producers from foreign trade shocks.
Integrating Nickel-Based Energy Storage Systems
To support the massive influx of intermittent renewable energy, Jakarta plans to pair its domestic solar expansion with advanced Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). This strategy uses Indonesia's abundant domestic nickel reserves to tie the country's downstream mining sector directly into its renewable electricity rollout.
Well, this will be estimated from renewable energy, solar panels and battery storage systems which will really support the battery ecosystem that Indonesia has prepared which is based on nickel.
Airlangga said, highlighting how the policy links green power generation with the national battery supply chain.