Machinery’s share of Taiwan’s total exports slid to a record low of 5.1 percent last year due to Chinese dumping in the international market, the Ministry of Finance said in a report yesterday.
China’s decision to end preferential tariffs for Taiwanese machinery and the continued economic downturn in Europe also contributed to the lower exports last year, the report said.
Machinery exports edged down 0.4 percent year-on-year to US$24.1 billion last year, the lowest level since 2021, when the figure stood at US$27.8 billion, data compiled by the ministry showed.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
Still, machinery was the fourth-largest export category, after electronics components’ 37.3 percent, information, communications and audi-?video products’ 27.9 percent and base metals’ 6 percent, the data showed.
Machinery’s share of Taiwan’s total exports has steadily declined from a high of 8.5 percent in the 2000s, the report said.
In contrast, outbound shipments of electronics and information and communications technology products have expanded rapidly over the past two decades, underlying a shift in the nation’s industrial structure.
Machinery exports in the first half of this year grew 4.3 percent annually to US$12.1 billion, the ministry said.
The outlook for the sector remains uncertain due to continuing US-China trade tensions and geopolitical conflicts, resulting in delays in infrastructure and reconstruction projects, it said.
China, including Hong Kong, was once the largest buyer of Taiwanese machinery, accounting for about 30 percent of the nation’s total exports, the report said.
However, as China ramped up efforts to develop a homegrown machinery industry and promoted import substitution, Taiwan saw an across-the-board retreat in machinery exports to that country in recent years, except for those making ball bearings, transmission shafts and for semiconductor production, it said.
From 2019 to last year, total machinery shipments to China, including Hong Kong, dropped 16.8 percent in terms of value, ministry data showed.
China’s share of Taiwan’s total machinery exports also slid from 29.3 percent to 23.7 percent during the same period, the data showed.
Meanwhile, due to the US-China rivalry and Washington’s efforts to bring back manufacturing to the US, Taiwan’s machinery exports to the US increased 24.5 percent over the past five years in terms of value, while US share of Taiwanese exports rose to 24.2 percent, from 19.9 percent, surpassing China for the first time.
In addition, exports of machines for semiconductor manufacturing increased significantly in the past few years, the report said, citing robust demand in the semiconductor industry chain and the continuous improvement of domestic manufacturing technology for related equipment.
From 2013 to 2022, the export value of such machines hit fresh records for 10 consecutive years and exceeded the US$5 billion mark for the first time in 2022.
Semiconductor machines’ share of total machinery exports also climbed from 6.4 percent to 17.8 percent during the period, and reached 20.5 percent last year, portending potential growth momentum for Taiwan’s machinery manufacturers going forward, the report said.
China used to be the largest buyer of Taiwanese semiconductor machines, accounting for 55.5 percent of Tawan’s total exports in 2017, but the figure dropped below 30 percent in the past two years, the report said.
ASEAN members, especially Singapore, have accounted for more than 20 percent after growing investment in the region under companies’ “China Plus One” investment strategy, while Europe, led by the Netherlands, and the US accounted for more than 10 percent each of the nation’s total exports, it added.
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