By Faith Hung and Emily Chan
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s exports rose more than expected in February as demand for artificial intelligence related technologies got a boost from buyers trying to get ahead of new tariffs proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Exports rose 31.5% compared to the same month a year ago to $41.31 billion, the finance ministry said on Friday, nearly double the 17.0% that was forecast in a Reuters poll. The increase marked the 16th consecutive monthly rise.
Taiwan firms such as TSMC,, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, are major suppliers to Apple, Nvidia and other tech companies.
“Some customers made orders ahead of the U.S. tariff uncertainty,” the ministry said in a statement, adding business opportunities for new applications of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) remained solid.
Trump has imposed tariffs on China, Taiwan’s largest trading partner, and is considering the imposition of additional tariffs on Taiwan’s chip imports.
While the ministry said that tariffs and other geopolitical risks present a fair amount of uncertainty for this year, AI and its applications are accelerating, supporting overall momentum for Taiwan’s exports.
The export gains are expected to persist through the first and second quarters, the ministry added.
It expected exports in March to fall 1% and rise 2% year on year.
In February, Taiwan’s exports to China rose 27.9%, versus a contraction of 11.72% in the prior month.
Exports to the United States soared 65.6% year-on-year to $11.77 billion, compared with a 0.7% jump in January.
Taiwan’s total exports of electronic components climbed 24.6% in February on the year to $14.44 billion, with semiconductor exports up 24.6%.
Imports jumped 47.8% to $34.76 billion, better than economists’ forecasts for a gain of 19.2%.
(Reporting by Faith Hung and Emily Chan; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Kim COghill)
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