The TAIEX surged yesterday, led by gains in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), after US President Donald Trump announced a sweeping 100 percent tariff on imported semiconductors — while exempting companies operating or building plants in the US, which includes TSMC.
The benchmark index jumped 556.41 points, or 2.37 percent, to close at 24,003.77, breaching the 24,000-point level and hitting its highest close this year, Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) data showed.
TSMC rose NT$55, or 4.89 percent, to close at a record NT$1,180, as the company is already investing heavily in a multibillion-dollar plant in Arizona that led investors to assume limited tariff impact on the chipmaker. TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock on the local main board, contributed 457 points alone to the TAIEX gain.
Photo: CNA
“Taiwan’s equity market staged a relief rally today, led by semiconductor equipment makers, as investors turned bullish with much of the policy uncertainty now priced in,” said Huang Tse-tung (黃紫東), an analyst at Good Securities Investment Consultant Co (顧德投顧).
Other major tech stocks also gained. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), which assembles iPhones for Apple Inc and produces artificial intelligence servers for Nvidia Corp, climbed 4.57 percent to NT$194.50.
Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) rose 2.65 percent to NT$1,355, and GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s third-largest silicon wafer supplier, gained by the daily limit to close at NT$375.
Market turnover on the main board yesterday expanded to NT$452.976 billion (US$15.19 billion) from NT$349.92 billion on Wednesday, TWSE data showed.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of NT$43.24 billion of local equities, while proprietary traders and mutual funds posted net purchases of NT$5.5 billion and NT$1 billion respectively, exchange data showed.
The near-term outlook remains “cautiously optimistic,” supported by solid tech fundamentals and improving valuations, Huang said, adding that renewed tariff risks or global macro shocks could still weigh on sentiment.
The tariff exemption is seen as a major boon for firms expanding US operations, including TSMC, Nvidia and Apple. The move might also incentivize other Taiwanese supply chain firms to follow suit, consultancy firm PwC Taiwan said.
However, PwC cautioned that several aspects of the policy remain unclear. It is not yet known whether exemptions extend to semiconductor manufacturing equipment — previously subject to US trade investigations — or to end-products like laptops and smartphones.
Further clarity is also needed on investment thresholds required for exemption eligibility, as well as implementation details from the White House or US Customs and Border Protection, the consultancy said.
EY Taiwan echoed these concerns, warning that companies — or their contractors — planning to build US manufacturing facilities might need to apply for new interpretive rulings to determine whether equipment used in plant construction qualifies for exemptions or individual approvals.
Firms that fail to obtain such exemptions could still face the full 100 percent tariff, EY Taiwan said, urging companies to assess supply chain exposure and prepare contingency strategies.
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