US surpasses China to become biggest importer of Taiwan’s machinery in 2024

TAIPEI:The United States has surpassed China and Hong Kong to become the largest destination for Taiwan-made machinery for the first time in 2024, according to a recent report from Taiwan’s Ministry of Finance (MOF) and as reported by Focus Taiwan.

According to Focus Taiwan, the shift was driven by China’s ongoing push to build its own machinery capabilities.

Taiwan exported USD 5.8 billion worth of machinery to the U.S. in 2024, marking a 6.1 per cent increase from the previous year and accounting for 24.2 per cent of the country’s total machinery exports. In contrast, sales to China and Hong Kong dropped by 1.5 per cent to USD 5.7 billion, or 23.7 per cent of the total.

Between 2019 and 2024, Taiwan’s machinery exports to the U.S. rose by 24.5 per cent, while shipments to China and Hong Kong fell by 16.8 per cent, the MOF report noted. In 2019, China and Hong Kong made up 29.3 per cent of Taiwan’s machinery exports, close to their historical average of 30 per cent, while the U.S. had a 19.9 per cent share.

China’s decreasing share is partly due to its policy of strengthening its domestic machinery industry to reduce reliance on foreign products. At the same time, rising US-China trade tensions and the emphasis on “Made in the USA” have encouraged Taiwanese manufacturers to pivot more toward the American market.

This change comes amid an overall downturn in Taiwan’s machinery sector. Total machinery exports dropped to a three-year low of USD 24.1 billion in 2024, down 0.4 per cent from 2023 and a steep 15.5 per cent decrease from 2022’s record high of USD 28.6 billion.

Although machinery remained Taiwan’s fourth-largest export category in 2024, its share of total exports fell to a record low of 5.1 per cent, down from 5.6 per cent in 2023, the report added.

While outbound sales in the first half of this year rebounded, up 4.3 per cent from a year earlier, the MOF said, it remained uncertain whether the uptrend will continue, given the trade tensions that exist between the US and China. (ANI)