China (including Hong Kong), the US and Vietnam were the top three sources of Taiwan's trade surplus in the first three months of this year, the government's statistics agency said yesterday.
Among the three, China and Hong Kong recorded a US$13.9 billion trade deficit with Taiwan, compared with US$11.9 billion during the same period last year, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said.
During the first quarter of this year, the nation posted a US$2.19 billion trade surplus with the US and a US$830 million surplus with Vietnam, the DGBAS added.
The Ministry of Finance reported on Friday that the nation's exports in the first three months of the year rose 11.4 percent to US$49.98 billion, while imports increased 9.3 percent to US$46.75 billion. This led to a trade surplus of US$3.23 billion during the first quarter, up 56.9 percent year-on-year from US$2.06 billion.
The nation's main export products were precision instruments, electric machinery and electronics, which rose 68.8 percent, 30.2 percent and 27.8 percent respectively from the same period last year. However, shipments of information technology and telecommunications products were down 9 percent, the DGBAS said.
The nation's biggest trade deficits in the first quarter were with Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea, with Japan taking the lead at US$7.26 billion.
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