The nation’s machinery exports last month expanded 3.7 percent year-on-year to US$2.73 billion, benefiting from robust front-loading demand from US customers amid tariff concerns, the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (台灣機械工業同業公會) said yesterday.
That marked the fifth consecutive month of annual growth, as customers requested their products be shipped before yesterday’s expiration of a 90-day reprieve from the US’ tariffs, the association said in a report.
However, drastic appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar tarnished the performance. Machinery exports dipped 4.2 percent annually to about NT$81.53 billion (US$2.8 billion) last month from a year ago, snapping the gains seen in the previous four months, the association’s data showed.
Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
Local machinery exporters are losing orders to Asian competitors, while profitability is being squeezed by the local currency’s rise, the association said.
The NT dollar rose 12.4 percent against the US dollar from April 1 to Tuesday, surpassing a 6.7 percent increase for the won, 2.1 percent for the yen and 1.3 percent for the yuan, it said.
A higher US “reciprocal” tariff on Taiwanese goods would deal another blow to local machinery makers, the association said.
The White House on Monday announced 25 percent import duties on Japan and South Korea. In early April, the US set a 32 percent tariff on Taiwan.
During the first six months of this year, machinery exports expanded 5.3 percent annually to US$14.92 billion, the data showed.
The US was the top export destination for local machinery suppliers, with shipments totaling US$3.97 billion in the first half of this year, up 16.3 percent annually.
China followed, with exports inching up 1.1 percent to US$2.41 billion, while Japan was third, with exports of US$1.2 billion, rising 14.1 percent annually, data showed.
Metrology equipment was the largest export item, making up 17.6 percent with US$2.62 billion of exports during the six-month period. Electronic equipment made up 16 percent of the total, with exports of US$2.38 billion, while machinery tools made up 6.8 percent, with exports of US$1.01 billion, data showed.
Taiwan imported about US$32.39 billion of machinery during the January-to-June period, surging 53.5 percent from the same period last year, the association said.
Electronic equipment was the biggest item purchased by local firms, soaring 85.9 percent from last year with US$14.19 billion in spending. That made up 43.8 percent of total imports.
Metrology equipment followed with imports of US$7.9 billion, accounting for 24.4 percent, and spiking 80.6 percent annually. Turbines were a distant third with imports plummeting 28.6 percent year-on-year to US$1.29 billion, making up 4 percent of the total, data showed.
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