Taiwan's March Exports to US Hit Record High of US$28.54 Billion, Up 1.2 Times Annually

The Ministry of Finance announced today the preliminary statistics for customs import and export trade in March. Total exports in March reached US$80.18 billion, a year-on-year increase of 61.8%, and imports reached US$58.91 billion, a year-on-year increase of 38.3%, both setting new single-month records. Observing the performance of the five major markets, export values to the United States, China/Hong Kong, and ASEAN all set new records in March. Cai Meina, Director of the Department of Statistics at the Ministry of Finance, analyzed that exports to the US in March reached US$28.54 billion, a 1.2-fold increase year-on-year, outperforming other major markets, and the trade surplus reached a new high of US$23.38 billion. Exports to ASEAN in March were US$16.46 billion, a year-on-year increase of 59.8%; exports to China/Hong Kong were US$18.23 billion, a year-on-year increase of 27.4%, mainly driven by increased demand for electronic components, bringing the export value back above US$18 billion after four years. Exports to Europe in March were US$5.26 billion, a year-on-year increase of 53.8%, the second highest single-month export value in history, with exports to Ireland growing 9.6 times and to Poland 3.1 times, ranking among the top two countries. Exports to Japan were US$3.09 billion, a year-on-year increase of 20.9%, the third highest single-month export value in history. Cai Meina analyzed that in recent years, due to the emergence of AI business opportunities, coupled with the US-China economic rivalry, de-Sinicization, and supply chain restructuring, Taiwan's foreign trade landscape has been reshaped. Comparing the changes in the proportion of the top five foreign trade markets from 2018 to Q1 2026, the proportion of exports to the US increased from 11.8% to 33.5%, an increase of 21.7 percentage points, and to Singapore also increased by 3.8 percentage points. At the same time, the proportion of exports to China/Hong Kong significantly decreased from 41.3% to 23.7%, a reduction of 17.6 percentage points, and to Japan also decreased by 2.4 percentage points. In terms of imports, the proportion of imports from South Korea increased from 6.9% to 14%, an increase of 7.2 percentage points, and the proportion of imports from Vietnam also increased by 3.1 percentage points, but the proportion of imports from the US and Japan decreased by 2.7 and 4.6 percentage points, respectively. From the perspective of overall trade value, Cai Meina said that the United States has replaced China/Hong Kong as Taiwan's largest trading partner, the first time in 25 years. In Q1 this year, the US accounted for 23.1% of Taiwan's total trade, also the highest in the past 28 years for the same period. In contrast, the proportion of trade with China/Hong Kong decreased from 31.2% to 21.8%, a 24-year low for the same period. Cai Meina added that South Korea has surpassed Japan to become Taiwan's third largest trading partner since 2025. In Q1 this year, South Korea's trade value accounted for 8.2%, also the highest in history for the same period, reflecting the closer trade ties between Taiwan and South Korea in the semiconductor industry. (Editor: Huang Guolun) 2026-04-10