Taiwan’s chip exports sputter on US-China tensions, falling demand

Taiwan’s exports of integrated circuit chips to China and Hong Kong fell for a fourth month in February as Washington-Beijing tensions simmer and demand for electronics continues to drop off.

Exports of IC chips — which are pivotal components of electronic appliances, computers and smartphones — to China and Hong Kong dropped 31.3% from a year earlier, according to data from Taiwan’s Ministry of Finance. It was the worst decline since 2009, topping January’s 27.1% fall.

China’s market share of Taiwanese IC exports plunged to the lowest level since February 2019, based on Bloomberg calculations of official data.