In the first half of this year, ICT and audiovisual products saw the strongest export performance, with a year-on-year increase of 63%. Their value surpassed that of electronic components, making them the largest export category. Combined, exports of these two categories exceeded US$200 billion in the first half of the year, representing a 40% increase and accounting for 70.8% of total exports, a record high for the same period.

Benefiting from the continued application and demand for AI technology, increased investment and equipment procurement by US cloud service providers, coupled with the impact of the 90-day grace period for US retaliatory tariffs, ICT and audiovisual product exports reached US$101.9 billion in the first half of this year, surpassing electronic components to become the largest export category, with a year-on-year increase of 63%.

AI boosted demand for semiconductor chips, and electronic component exports rebounded from two consecutive years of decline, reaching US$98.7 billion in the first half of this year, a significant increase of 22.2%. Among them, integrated circuits saw a 23.5% year-on-year increase due to the incorporation of AI functions into electronic products, accelerating the advancement of chips towards smaller technology nodes and accelerating demand for advanced process products.

In the traditional goods sector, Taiwan's machinery exports reached US$12.1 billion in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 4.3%. However, due to fluctuating geopolitical tensions and a weak international economy, international crude oil prices remained volatile and low in the first half of the year. Taiwan's mineral product exports reached US$7 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 1.4%. Combined, exports of plastics and chemicals reached US$25.4 billion in the first half of the year, a year-on-year decrease of 2.8%, due to weak end-user demand and overcapacity in mainland China.

On the import side, driven primarily by the international division of labor in the AI ​​industry chain, imports of integrated circuits and computer components reached record highs. Imports of agricultural and industrial raw materials reached US$151.7 billion in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 19.4%. Among these, imports of electronic components increased by 38.3% year-on-year, and imports of computer components increased by 2.3 times, showing the most outstanding performance.

(Source: Economic Daily News)