Taiwan’s exports last month soared 29.9 percent year-on-year to US$48.66 billion, the second-highest on record, thanks to front-loading demand for tech products used in artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing, after Washington announced a 90-day respite for its “reciprocal” tariffs, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
Last month’s export momentum proved stronger than expected and is to continue this month, with an annual increase of 15 percent to 20 percent, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said.
“Front-loading demand and rush orders are evident across sectors,” Tsai said. “The 90-day pause prompted firms on the sidelines to actively build inventory.”
Photo: CNA
That could disrupt seasonality for technology products — with the first half of this year outperforming the second half in terms of sales, Tsai said.
Outbound shipments of information and communications technology products spiked 60.5 percent annually to US$18.83 billion last month, overtaking electronic components as the top driver, on the back of demand from AI infrastructure and big data centers, she said.
Shipments of electronic components, mainly chips, increased 26.8 percent to US$16.41 billion, consistent with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (台積電) expectations.
The company has said that it does not see customers canceling orders amid uncertainty related to US tariffs.
Front-loading also benefited exports of chemicals, base metals, optical products and machinery equipment, the ministry said, adding that last month, all major markets’ shipments — except Europe — recorded double-digit percentage growth.
Mexico saw a threefold increase, while Malaysia rapidly climbed to the fourth-largest export destination, after China, the US and Japan, Tsai said, adding that it was due to the ongoing global supply chain realignment.
Imports last month also expanded 33 percent year-on-year to US$41.16 billion, fueled by local tech firms’ purchases of capital equipment and the deepening of global division of labor in the tech supply chain, Tsai said.
That gave Taiwan a trade surplus of US$7.21 billion in the month, up 15 percent from a year earlier.
Tsai declined to comment on the effect of the New Taiwan dollar’s rapid appreciation on exports, saying that she cannot pass judgment on the issue based on customs data alone.
However, Tsai said she believed Taiwanese firms command the pricing power in areas where they maintain a strong global competitive edge.
With global cloud service providers’ AI infrastructure investments showing no signs of deceleration, Taiwan appears poised to maintain its export strength in the months ahead, she said.
In the first four months of this year, cumulative exports rose 20.6 percent to US$178.23 billion, while imports gained 20.4 percent to US$147.38 billion from a year earlier, ministry data showed.
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
CHIP DUTIES: TSMC said it voiced its concerns to Washington about tariffs, telling the US commerce department that it wants ‘fair treatment’ to protect its competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reiterated robust business prospects for this year as strong artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from Nvidia Corp and other customers would absorb the impacts of US tariffs. “The impact of tariffs would be indirect, as the custom tax is the importers’ responsibility, not the exporters,” TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said at the chipmaker’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu City. TSMC’s business could be affected if people become reluctant to buy electronics due to inflated prices, Wei said. In addition, the chipmaker has voiced its concern to the US Department of Commerce
RSS