Taiwan’s Export Orders Surge in December 2022

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s export orders grew at their fastest pace in nearly three years last month, boosted by demand for artificial intelligence technologies and China, despite tariff threats from the new administration of Donald Trump clouding the outlook.

Export orders rose 20.8% year-on-year in December to $52.92 billion, according to Taiwan’s economy ministry. This figure surpassed the 16.05% increase forecast in a Reuters poll and November’s expansion of 3.3%, marking the strongest growth since February 2022. It also represents the 10th monthly gain in a row.

As a home to tech giants like chip manufacturer TSMC, orders for goods from Taiwan serve as a bellwether of global technology demand.

The ministry anticipates that export order momentum will weaken in January, considering that the first quarter is usually a slow season.

Furthermore, the global economic outlook remains affected by the new U.S. government’s economic and trade policies alongside geopolitical risks and uncertainties, which could inhibit the growth momentum of export sales orders. They expect January’s export orders to fall between 8.1% and 4.0% year-on-year.

Trump was inaugurated as the United States’ 47th president, but did not impose immediate action on tariffs that raised concerns among investors about potential disruptions to longstanding trade agreements.

In December, Taiwan’s orders for telecommunications products rose 24.3% year-on-year, while electronic product orders increased by 33.5%. Orders from China jumped 13.6%, contrasting with a 3.4% decline in November. Additionally, orders from the United States soared 31%, following an 11.7% gain the previous month. Orders from Europe rose 9.5% in December, and orders from Japan increased by 24.7%.