Overseas shipments rose 30% in April from a year earlier to almost $49 billion, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement Thursday. That compares with the 16% increase forecast by economists surveyed by Bloomberg, pushing total exports for the first four months of the year to $178 billion — the highest ever for the period.
More than a quarter of those shipments were direct to the US, which took a record $13 billion in Taiwanese goods last month. Taiwanese firms are rushing to get goods into the US after President Donald Trump announced sweeping “reciprocal tariffs” on nearly all major economies in early April, before suspending them for 90 days.
April’s exports to ASEAN countries also rose to a record $10 billion, with shipments of information and communication products more than tripled from a year earlier.
“Taiwanese firms remain competitive in both capacity and manufacturing processes, which is expected to sustain export momentum,” Beatrice Tsai, Director General of the Department of Statistics at the finance ministry, said during a briefing in Taipei on Thursday.
Read More: Taiwan Dollar surges another 4%, jumping the most since 1988
Tsai also stated the government expects front-loading to continue boosting Taiwan’s exports in May, which may see a growth of 15% to 20% compared to the same period last year.
Rising exports have contributed to a surge in foreign exchange holdings among exporters, one of the key drivers behind the Taiwan dollar’s recent rally — its sharpest appreciation since the 1980s. The overseas shipments have been buoyed by a global boom in artificial intelligence, fueling demand for high-end tech products that make up a large share of Taiwan’s export sector.
Taiwan was initially threatened with a 32% levy by the US, and that has prompted economists to trim their growth forecasts for the island this year, with some expecting gross domestic product growth to slow markedly from 2024.
Read Also: India to cut duty only from 6th year on PLI-backed medical devices in UK trade pact
(Edited by : Juviraj Anchil)
