Taiwan exports to US jump by record as China shipments fall

TAIWAN’S exports to the US surged by a record last month while shipments to China fell, underscoring the accelerating decoupling of technology supply chains between the world’s two largest economies. 

Taiwan’s exports to the US jumped 81.6 per cent year-on-year to US$10.2 billion in April, data from the Finance Ministry in Taipei showed on Wednesday (May 8). It was the biggest increase on record. Meanwhile, overseas shipments to mainland China fell 1.1 per cent to US$7.5 billion. 

Total exports grew 4.3 per cent to US$37.5 billion in April, according to the ministry, less than the 9.9 per cent increase economists had forecast in a Bloomberg survey. 

Shipments of information, communication and audio-video products were the main drivers of the surge in exports to the US, rising approximately 200 per cent, according to the ministry’s statement. 

The boom in global demand for the computing hardware underpinning artificial intelligence, such as servers and semiconductors, continued to see strong growth. Exports of computers and related hardware, which includes servers and hard drives, increased 298.2 per cent. BLOOMBERG