Export orders fell 3.04 percent last month from a year earlier to US$36.47 billion, marking the third consecutive month of single-digit year-on-year decline because of continuous weak demand, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
By country, export orders from China — the nation’s largest export destination — declined 4.32 percent year-on-year last month to US$9.42 billion, with precision instruments accounting for the biggest decline.
“The decrease [in orders] marked the sixth consecutive year-on-year decline and reflected China’s economy remaining in a conundrum,” Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜), deputy director of the ministry’s Department of Statistics, told a press conference.
Export orders from the US grew 5.86 percent year-on-year to US$8.75 billion last month, with electronic products contributing most to the increase, topping the same month last year by US$240 million, the ministry’s data showed.
“The US was the only region among the six major export regions from which Taiwan received year-on-year export growth in May, indicating better momentum in the US economy and stronger private consumption in the country,” Tsai said.
Orders from Europe fell 8.17 percent annually to US$6.33 billion, with transportation goods accounting for the most contraction, the data showed.
Six ASEAN countries (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam) placed US$3.88 billion in orders with Taiwan — a decline of 8.16 percent from last year, data showed.
It marked the first decline for the six ASEAN nations since the financial crisis of 2008, Tsai said.
Last month’s export orders from Japan declined for the 13th consecutive month since May last year, but last month was the smallest decline recorded, indicating that Japan was recovering from the earthquake and tsunami in March last year, Tsai said.
By product, information technology and electronics goods accounted for the greatest number of orders with totals of US$9 billion and US$8.52 billion respectively. The US and China were the two largest importers of those goods, the ministry said.
On a monthly basis, export orders rose 1.07 percent from the US$36.09 billion reported in April, the data showed.
Orders in the first five months contracted US$970 million, or 0.55 percent, to US$176.37 billion from a year ago, the data showed.
This month, export orders are expected to dip year-on-year from the US$37.36 billion recorded a year ago, the ministry said.
Those figures should improve slightly from last month given that a ministry sentiment index stood at 55.59, which was above the base of 50, Tsai said.
Looking ahead, some beneficial factors, such as events like Computex and Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, would drive up export orders for handheld devices and notebook PCs, Tsai said.
China’s lowering of interest rates to stimulate domestic consumption would also help export orders.
However, the debt crisis in the eurozone, the slowing global economy, declining demand for plastic, chemical and basic metal raw materials and the approach of the traditional weak season for electronic industries would negatively affect the export order outlook in the near future, Tsai said.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS