Taipei (AFP) – Taiwan’s economy grew at a forecast-busting pace in the second quarter, official data showed Thursday, fuelled by demand for AI technology and firms placing orders before threatened US tariffs hit. The democratic island dominates the global semiconductor industry, with nearly all of the world’s most advanced chips made there. Gross domestic product expanded 7.96 percent in the three months to June, the government’s statistics agency said. That was higher than the 5.7 percent forecast in a survey of economists by Bloomberg News. And it was the fastest quarterly growth since the second quarter of 2021 when the economy grew by 8.28 percent, government data show.
“Tariff front-running is almost certainly playing some role here as US importers take advantage of the current exemption from tariffs for electronics,” said Jason Tuvey, deputy chief emerging markets economist at London-based Capital Economics. “The boom in exports helped to offset a slowdown in domestic demand as household consumption recorded its weakest growth, of 0.6 percent year on year, since late-2021.”
US President Donald Trump has threatened to slap a 32 percent tariff on Taiwan’s shipments to the United States if the island doesn’t strike a deal by Friday. Taiwan said Thursday it has reached “a certain consensus” with Washington over levies on its shipments, but did not release details. Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee said Taipei was “still waiting for the US government’s decision-making process to conclude.” “Both sides have also conducted negotiations on a joint statement,” she said.
Soaring demand for AI-related chips in recent years has fuelled Taiwan’s trade surplus with the United States — and put it in the cross-hairs of Trump’s global tariff war. Around 60 percent of Taiwan’s exports to the United States are information and communications technology, which includes chips. Trump has previously accused the island of 23 million people of stealing the US chip industry. To avoid Trump’s punitive tariffs, Taipei has pledged to increase investment in the United States, buy more of its energy, and increase its own defence spending.
Tuvey said Taiwan’s economic “boost from tariff front-running is likely to start to fade soon,” but he expected exports “to hold up well” on AI-related demand. Several economies — the European Union, Britain, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, and South Korea — have struck initial tariff deals with Washington, while China managed to temporarily lower tit-for-tat duties.
© 2024 AFP
