Taiwan: Merchandise exports rise at a softer rate in April
Merchandise exports increased 4.3% in annual terms in April (March: +18.9% year-on-year). The increase was driven by a more than doubling of IT exports on the back of surging global demand for AI-related products. Rising shipments to the U.S. and ASEAN more than offset lower exports elsewhere. However, exports rose less than half as fast as market analysts had been expecting. Meanwhile, merchandise imports rose 6.6% in annual terms in April (March: +7.1% yoy).
As a result, the merchandise trade balance deteriorated from the previous month, recording a USD 6.5 billion surplus in April (March 2024: USD 8.7 billion surplus; April 2023: USD 6.8 billion surplus). Lastly, the trend pointed down, with the 12-month trailing merchandise trade balance recording a USD 90.6 billion surplus in April, compared to the USD 91.0 billion surplus in March.
On growing U.S.-Taiwan trade ties, ING’s Lynn Song said:
“Since 2022, Taiwan’s export growth to the US has significantly outpaced the headline export growth, and thus far in the year to date this growth has remained very impressive with exports to the US up 81.6% YoY in April, and up 64.1% YoY through the first four months of the year. […] it looks like the fate of Taiwan exports is heavily tied to semiconductor sales to the US for now, leaving economic growth prospects intertwined with continued AI-driven demand.”