Taiwan: Trade Surplus Misses Expectations.
Taiwan’s trade surplus widened to USD 14.35 billion in April 2026 from USD 7.4 billion in the same month of the previous year, but missed market expectations of USD 19.1 billion. Exports soared 39% year-on-year to USD 67.62 billion, mainly driven by higher sales of information, communication and audio-video products (62.3%) and parts of electronic products (33.7%). Among major trading partners, shipments rose strongly to the US (63.8%), as well as Mainland China and Hong Kong (15.8%) and ASEAN (36.8%). Meanwhile, imports increased 29.2% from a year earlier to USD 53.27 billion, primarily due to higher purchases of parts of electronic products (61.3%) and information, communication and audio-video products (33.2%). Import growth was strongest from Mainland China and Hong Kong (28.6%), ASEAN (52.9%) and South Korea (78.3%). For the January–April period, the country’s trade surplus reached USD 67.3 billion, with exports surging 47.8% while imports rose 33.2%.