Taiwan exceeds full-year trade surplus record with US in 7 months

Uncertainty persists: A display of a semiconductor chip made by TSMC in Taipei. Taiwanese firms which have US capacity such as TSMC may be exempted, but how that plays out for firms without capex commitment remains unclear. — AFP

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s trade surplus with the United States has exceeded its full-year record in just seven months, as a global boom in artificial intelligence (AI) fuels demand for its tech products.

US-bound shipments from Taiwan rose nearly 63% in July from a year earlier to US$18.6bil, the Finance Ministry said in a statement last Friday.