Business

Taiwan Exports Surge on AI Demand but Tariffs Dim Outlook
By Reuters | 20 Aug, 2025

The insatiable demand for chips for AI data centers produced a 15.2% jump in exports for July.

Cargo cranes are seen moving containers at a container yard in Keelung, Taiwan, November 18, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang/ File Photo

Taiwan's export orders rose for the sixth straight month in July, fuelled by demand for tech products such as those related to artificial intelligence, but global trade uncertainty continues to cloud the outlook.

Export orders rose 15.2% in July on the year to $57.64 billion, the economic affairs ministry said on Wednesday, broadly in line with analysts' expectations for a 15% increase.

Orders for goods from Taiwan, home of the world's largest contract chipmaker TSMC and other tech companies, are considered a bellwether of global technology demand.

Trade-reliant Taiwan's export performance this year could be affected as U.S. President Donald Trump said he would impose a tariffs of 20% on its goods. 

Taiwan's government has said the 20% tariff is "temporary" as it continues to negotiate with the U.S. for more favourable rates.

"Uncertainty over trade policy and geopolitical risks will affect global trade performance," the ministry said in a statement. 

But orders momentum will be supported as new applications such as AI and high-performance computing continue to expand, while the second half is typically the high season ahead of year-end holidays in Western markets, it said.

For August, the ministry said it expected export orders to rise between 10.5% and 14.5% from a year ago.

Taiwan's orders in July for telecoms products were up 15.5% on the year, while those for electronic products climbed 24.8%.

Overall orders from China were up 3.6%, slowing from a gain of 15% in June.

Orders from the United States climbed 25.4%, off a rise of 34.8% the month before.

Orders from Europe inched up 7.3%, and those from Japan rose 12.8%.

(Reporting by Faith Hung and Emily Chan; Editing by Ben Blanchard and Clarence Fernandez)