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——越过小型香蕉园和油棕园，这座有过锡矿开采历史的城镇，隐藏着太阳能行业被保守得最好的秘密之一。

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.
这里的六家工厂构成了第一太阳能公司(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。这些机器人是参照汽车组装厂和其他一些行业的做法改造而成的。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位于这条路上一英里开外的地方，SunEdison的晶片工厂位于60英里（约97公里）外的朱毛，韩华Q Cells和SunPower巨大的工厂位于更南边的地方，而硅谷创业公司Solexel正准备分阶段地修建一座投资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.
在令太阳能产业陷入混乱的这场贸易战中，仅有3000万人口的东南亚国家马来西亚，成了最大的赢家。随着中国公司遭到美国关税和欧洲配额制的打击，马来西亚凭借其相对低廉的劳动力成本、划算的减税政策、与西方的友好关系，以及大量会说英语的工程人才，吸引了越来越多的跨国公司。
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很大，但它正在迅速追赶欧盟。同时，如果美国政府如预料的那样，在下周二针对中国制造的太阳能组件，扩大关税征收范围，马来西亚在全球太阳能贸易中的份额，在未来几个月里肯定会进一步扩大。
“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.
“我们喜欢马来西亚，因为它在低成本的优势和高工程水平的优势之间，是一个交叉点。它在一定程度上处于中间位置，成本较低，工程水平也不错，”总部位于加利福尼亚州的SunPower公司首席执行官汤姆·维尔纳(Tom Werner)说。该公司一半的太阳能组件是在马来西亚的马六甲制造的。
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制造的繁荣几乎不为人知。这一点颇为罕见，因为在这个惯于大力宣传的行业，即便是开设了一家非常小的工厂，或是新建了一座太阳能电厂，都会被描绘成迈向清洁能源的进步。
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.
制造企业不希望外界注意到它们把生产转移到了海外。这里的工厂几乎完全由美国、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为200兆瓦。但这家公司强调，工程设计工作仍然由位于德国塔尔海姆的总部来完成。
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“让我们拥有了充分的灵活性，能够以德国设计的高质量产品，可靠地应对非常不同且不断变化的国际市场需求，”该公司发言人约亨·恩德尔(Jochen Endle)说。
It is a common theme. The technology comes from overseas, but the employees and most of the materials are Malaysian.
这种情况很普遍。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招聘的，他们需要接受三班倒的工作制度。只有少数原材料是从美国进口的，比如某些电缆。多数其他原材料目前是从马来西亚的供应商那里采购，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不断削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)一边说着，一边从生产线光洁的地板上走过。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进他们最新的发明，速度和在本国市场一样快，从而维持标准化的生产工艺和质量。杰亚格奈什说，“当我们做出决定的时候”，比如增加机器人数量，或在生产方面做出改变，“在这里和佩里斯堡几乎是同步进行的。”
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增长，激怒了一些原本支持美国对中国采取贸易行动的人。批评人士说，这么做的目标是在美国创造就业，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.”
“太阳能是实现节能目标的关键技术，在这个行业，政府需要采取更加积极和全面的贸易政策，”美国国会设立的顾问机构美中经济安全审查委员会(U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission)的成员迈克尔·R·韦赛尔(Michael R. Wessel)说。“否则，我们只是从对外国石油的长期依赖，转变成对外国能源技术和产品的依赖。”
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复杂关系，让马来西亚从中受益。其中关税带来的影响最直接。
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获得大量贷款，并从当地政府那里免费或者近乎免费地获得土地使用权，它们的产量迅速提高，在2009年全球金融危机期间，太阳能产品价格开始急剧下降。中国制造商也开始倾销电池板，即以低于制造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涌来，导致美国和欧洲二十几家太阳能制造商破产或停产。美国在2012年做出回应，对中国太阳能电池板征收反补贴和反倾销税，总计约30%。去年，欧盟也针对中国太阳能电池板设定了进口配额和最低价格。
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，市场普遍预期美国商务部将进一步提高中国太阳能电池板的关税。未决诉讼将对那些部分在中国，部分在台湾生产的电池板征收关税，从而堵住中国公司绕过原关税的漏洞。
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走向破产后，2013年的价格暴跌趋于平稳，它突显了成本竞争的巨大重要性。中国工资水平的迅速上升，再加上日益紧张的地缘政治局势，促使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.
这给马来西亚带来了机会，在当地，技能熟练的工程师和机械操作工工资相当低。
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免征10年企业税。尽管美国一些州提供税收减免措施，但却没有类似的联邦免税政策。
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减免政策表达了关注。白宫机构已经要求马来西亚提交相关材料，以便其他国家评估这些政策是否违反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.
马来西亚否认自己违反了任何贸易规则。“我们提供的各种激励方式，做的各种事情，全都符合世贸组织标准，”参议员伊特利斯·亚拉(Idris Jala)说，他是马来西亚负责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.
在税收减免政策的激励下，第一太阳能公司决定把大部分生产环节安排在这里，该公司的执行副总裁玛雅·威尔斯(Maja Wessels)表示。
“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.”
“这个决定毫不困难，马来西亚有10年的免税期，”她说。“对于太阳能生产，特别是我们公司的生产而言，低廉的劳动力成本很有好处，但至关重要的是税收政策。”