Taiwan’s economy is projected to expand 4.14 percent this year, driven by strong global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) hardware that continues to boost exports and imports, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中經院) said yesterday.
The forecast is an upward revision of 1.59 percentage points from October last year, reflecting an optimistic outlook for the nation’s export-led economy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference in Taipei.
“The forecast does not yet account for the recently concluded Taiwan-US tariff negotiations, which are expected to have a positive impact on traditional industries, technology and investment,” Lien said.
Photo: Hsu Tzu-ling, Taipei Times
Improved US policy clarity has already bolstered sentiment toward Taiwan’s technology sector, as seen in ongoing TAIEX rallies, Lien added.
Uncertainty over potential semiconductor tariffs had weighed on investment and the equity markets.
A key feature of the trade deal is a bilateral investment framework under which the US agreed to strategic technology cooperation with Taiwan across major industries, Lien said.
The arrangement is expected to benefit not only the semiconductor sector, but start-ups and emerging industries as well.
For manufacturers in traditional industries, the deal delivers a long-sought advantage. Tariffs on Taiwanese goods exported to the US are set to fall from 20 percent to 15 percent, bringing Taiwan onto equal footing with competitors such as Japan and South Korea for the first time in more than a decade, CIER said.
Exports are forecast to reach US$760.8 billion, an 18.75 percent increase from last year’s record high, providing solid support for economic growth, CIER researcher Peng Su-ling (彭素玲) said.
This year’s GDP growth would feature a more balanced structure, with domestic demand contributing 2.42 percentage points and external demand adding 1.72 percentage points, Peng added.
Cathay United Bank Co’s (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said the growth outlook could rise as export momentum in the electronics sector grows.
Taiwan’s leading electronics companies might see revenue growth exceed 25 percent, approaching 30 percent, pushing electronics exports to at least US$600 billion for this year, Lin said.
When combined with contributions from non-electronics industries, exports could surpass US$760 billion, he said.
If adjustments to automobile tariffs turn out more favorable than expected, domestic consumption could receive an additional boost, further supporting economic expansion, he added.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has approved a capital budget of US$31.28 billion for production expansion to meet long-term development needs during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company’s board meeting yesterday approved the capital appropriation plan for purposes such as the installation of advanced technology capacity and fab construction, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement. At an earnings conference last month, TSMC forecast that its capital expenditure for this year would be at the higher end of the US$52 billion to US$56 billion range it forecast in January in response to robust demand for 5G, AI and
RSS