Taiwan’s exports to Mexico surged to a record level as tech companies moved production out of China, but the trade now faces uncertainty following US threats of higher tariffs on its neighbor.
Taiwanese exports to Mexico jumped 479 percent last month from a year earlier to reach US$2.7 billion, official data showed. This is mainly driven by shipments of graphic processing units, a key components of artificial intelligence (AI) servers.
The Ministry of Finance in a statement on Friday said the surge was largely due to supply chain shifts, as companies like Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) — also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) — and Wistron Corp (緯創) have been building factories in Mexico to assemble AI servers destined for the US.
Photo: CNA
The trade now seems at risk after US President Donald Trump announced late last month that he would impose 25 percent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada. The decision was later delayed for 30 days after last-minute negotiations, but the threats have caused stock prices of Taiwanese tech companies to plunge.
Last month, Trump also announced plans to impose 100 percent tariffs on computer chips from Taiwan. Minister of Economic Affair J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) on Saturday said that a group of officials would travel to the US to meet with Trump administration officials to try and stop the tariffs from being implemented.
In addition, Taiwan is preparing to buy more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US to reduce its trade surplus and potentially avoid higher tariffs.
State-owned CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and the ministry are in negotiations with an Alaska-based export plant for supplies, state-run Central News Agency reported on Sunday, citing an unidentified ministry official.
Trump on Friday said Japan would buy a record volume of US LNG, following a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House.
Last year, Taiwan imported about 10 percent of its LNG from the US, with most shipments arriving from Australia and Qatar under long-term supply contracts, official data showed.
After several years flying high as Asia’s best Nvidia Corp proxy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is increasingly vying with other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for investor attention. Stock traders are chasing a wider array of beneficiaries as mainstream usage of AI creates demand for hardware beyond the most-advanced chips TSMC makes for Nvidia. Subthemes from the deepening memory crunch to advances in robotics are also luring bids. At the same time, investment caps on single stocks are pushing funds to diversify, while retail investors long familiar with TSMC through its US depositary receipts are being offered a broader set of
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Nvidia Corp yesterday announced that CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) would attend an employee meeting in Taipei tomorrow to celebrate the launch of the company’s Taiwan headquarters project. Huang would attend a gathering at the site of Nvidia’s planned headquarters in Beitou Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區), the company said in a statement. After arriving in Taiwan on Saturday last week, Huang told reporters that he plans to meet with Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), and would attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Nvidia’s Taiwan headquarters tomorrow. Nvidia has not yet applied
RSS