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Machine tool exports fall 8.8 percent
Taipei Times | English | News | Dec. 12, 2025 | UndeterminedTrade Issues and Numbers
Taiwan’s machine tool exports for the first 11 months of the year fell 8.8 percent year-on-year to US$1.83 billion, with the annual contraction rate worsening from 8.1 percent in the first 10 months. Full-year exports are projected to hit around US$2 billion, marking the lowest level since the 2009 global financial crisis. The industry faces challenges such as tariffs, unfavorable exchange rates, and geopolitical conflicts.
In November alone, machine tool exports declined 14.8 percent to US$165 million. Shipments to China, including Hong Kong, dropped 12.6 percent, while exports to the US plunged 27.7 percent. Weak market demand and a relatively strong New Taiwan dollar compared to regional currencies have pressured manufacturers. Although the NT dollar has depreciated slightly against the US dollar, its decline is much smaller than that of currencies like the Japanese yen, eroding Taiwan’s past price advantages.
Despite this, the overall machinery industry showed signs of recovery, with total machinery exports increasing 8.5 percent year-on-year to US$28.87 billion in the first 11 months. Growth was driven by increased shipments of inspection and testing equipment, as well as electronic machinery linked to AI, high-performance computing, and cloud computing. However, in NT dollar terms, total machinery exports grew only 5.3 percent due to the currency’s appreciation, which reduced the real export value growth.
From January to November, the US remained the largest market for Taiwanese machinery at US$7.52 billion (26 percent of total exports), followed by China at US$6.58 billion (22.8 percent) and Japan at US$2.22 billion (7.7 percent). With recent double-digit growth in exports to both the US and China and easing global economic uncertainty, full-year machinery exports are expected to rise about 9 percent compared to last year.