Trade with Taiwan

GENERAL INTRODUCTION OF THE COUNTRY

Taiwan is an island located approximately 160 kilometres off the southern coast of China in the Western Pacific Ocean. The total land area is about 36.000 square km and the total population is more than 23 million people, making it one of the most densely populated area in the world. The geographical position in Asia is the following: in the North there are Japan and Korea, in the West there are Mainland China and Hong Kong, in South West there are the ASEAN countries (Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore).

Politics
The official name of Taiwan is Republic of China, founded in 1912, was the first democratic republic in Asia. Taiwan is a fully democratic country where people’s rights are respected. There are two main political parties. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the Kuomintang (KMT). The current president, Lai Ching-te, has been in office since May 2024 and is a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
 

Living Environment
Through more than 60 years of continuous development, Taiwan has gained the status of a newly industrialising country, and abounds in modern goods and conveniences. Numerous high profile foreign companies have made successful inroads into the Taiwanese market in recent years. In particular, Italian design is highly appreciated by Taiwanese people. In the department stores many fashion and textile products, jewellery, shoes, furniture, etc. are made in Italy.
 

Trade

mil. US$	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	growth rate
exports	317,244	335,927	329,330	345,286	446,392	479,451	432,441	475,000	9.8%
imports	259,261	286,361	285,869	286,513	381,521	428,036	351,470	394,395	12.2%
total	576,506	622,288	615,199	631,800	827,914	907,486	783,912	869,398	10.9%
balance	57,983	49,566	43,461	58,773	64,871	51,415	80,971	80,608	-0.2%

Taiwan Main Trading partners 2024 (US$ mln)

 

Time Period: 2024/01 - 2024/12
Code No	Country Name	Total Trade			Export			Import
		Ranking	Amount	Share (%)	Ranking	Amount	Share (%)	Ranking	Amount	Share (%)
TOTAL	Global	-	869,397.74	100.000	-	475,002.84	100.000	-	394,394.90	100.000

Code No	Country Name	Ranking	Amount	Share (%)	Ranking	Amount	Share (%)	Ranking	Amount	Share (%)
CN	China	1	176,284.18	20.277	2	96,976.23	20.416	1	79,307.94	20.109
US	United States	2	157,819.93	18.153	1	111,361.97	23.444	2	46,457.95	11.780
JP	Japan	3	72,292.07	8.315	5	25,836.38	5.439	3	46,455.69	11.779
KR	Republic of Korea	4	64,499.26	7.419	6	20,792.49	4.377	4	43,706.77	11.082
HK	Hong Kong	5	54,958.07	6.321	3	53,636.57	11.292	30	1,321.50	0.335
SG	Singapore	6	43,447.83	4.997	4	33,743.17	7.104	9	9,704.67	2.461
MY	Malaysia	7	34,537.80	3.973	7	19,918.50	4.193	6	14,619.31	3.707
TW	*Taiwan, Roc	8	23,769.33	2.734	230	---	---	5	23,769.33	6.027

VN	Viet Nam	9	22,201.88	2.554	8	14,276.47	3.006	11	7,925.41	2.010
DE	Germany	10	20,432.98	2.350	13	6,894.78	1.452	8	13,538.19	3.433
AU	Australia	11	20,272.87	2.332	14	5,674.77	1.195	7	14,598.10	3.701

IT

Italy

21

5,775.26

0.664

19

2,307.89

0.486

19

3,467.37

0.879

 

 

 

                 

TWO WAY TRADE WITH ITALY
 

In 2024, trade with Italy amounted to USD 5.77 billion, a decrease of 0.3%.

 

Exports from Taiwan to Italy amounted to USD 2.3 billion (-4.4%), while imports from Italy reached USD 3.4 billion (increase of 2.6%). Italy is Taiwan's fifth-largest trading partner in Europe, after Germany, the Netherlands, France, and the United Kingdom, and is 21st globally.

 

 

Taiwan Import from Italy, top 10 products.
(million US$)

TIME PERIOD: 2024/01 - 2024/12
CCC_CODE	CODE_NAME	2023/01 - 2023/12	2024/01 - 2024/12	RANKING	SHARE(%)	GROWTH RATE(%)	CHANGE AMOUNT
TOTAL	Italy (CCC_CODE： ALL)	3,378.98	3,467.37	---	100	2.616	88.38
3004	Medicaments (excluding goods of heading 30.02, 30.05 or 30.06) consisting of mixed or unmixed products for therapeutic or prophylactic uses, put up in measured doses (including those in the form of transdermal administration systems) or in forms or packings for retail sale	310.14	333.40	1	9.615	7.501	23.26
4202	Trunks, suit-cases, vanity-cases, executive-cases, brief-cases, school satchels, spectacle cases, binocular cases, camera cases, musical instrument cases, gun cases, holsters and similar containers; travelling-bags, insulated food or beverages bags, toilet bags, rucksacks, handbags, shopping-bags, wallets, purses, map-cases, cigarette-cases, tobacco-pouches, tool bags, sports bags, bottle-cases, jewellery boxes, powder-boxes, cutlery cases and similar containers, of leather or of composition leather, of sheeting of plastics, of textile materials, of vulcanised fibre or of paperboard, or wholly or mainly covered with such materials or with paper	359.79	323.61	2	9.333	-10.058	-36.19
8542	Electronic integrated circuits	259.70	284.67	3	8.210	9.612	24.96
9030	Oscilloscopes, spectrum analysers and other instruments and apparatus for measuring or checking electrical quantities, excluding meters of heading 90.28; instruments and apparatus for measuring or detecting alpha, beta, gamma, X-ray, cosmic or other ionising radiations cosmic or other ionising radiations	163.57	256.83	4	7.407	57.015	93.26
8703	Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons (other than those of heading 87.02), including station wagons and racing cars	149.35	168.27	5	4.853	12.667	18.92
7113	Article of jewellery and parts thereof, of precious metal or of metal clad with precious metal	101.00	101.48	6	2.927	0.484	0.49
6403	Footwear with outer soles of rubber, plastics, leather or composition leather and uppers of leather	96.97	95.19	7	2.745	-1.839	-1.78
9899	MISCELLANEOUS	94.63	62.44	8	1.801	-34.017	-32.19
6110	Jerseys, pullovers, cardigans, waist-coats and similar articles, knitted or crocheted	52.44	54.08	9	1.560	3.128	1.64
8411	Turbo-jets, turbo-propellers and other gas turbines	83.58	53.88	10	1.554	-35.526	-29.69

Taiwan Export to Italy, top 10 products
(million US$)

TIME PERIOD: 2024/01 - 2024/12
CCC_CODE	CODE_NAME	2023/01 - 2023/12	2024/01 - 2024/12	RANKING	SHARE(%)	GROWTH RATE(%)	CHANGE AMOUNT
TOTAL	Italy (CCC_CODE： ALL)	2,413.86	2,307.89	---	100	-4.390	-105.97
7219	Flat-rolled products of stainless steel, of a width of 600 mm or more	190.47	304.88	1	13.210	60.064	114.41
7208	Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600 mm or more, hot-rolled, not clad, plated or coated	194.81	147.51	2	6.392	-24.280	-47.30
8714	Parts and accessories of vehicles of headings 87.11 to 87.13	140.04	121.93	3	5.283	-12.931	-18.11
8517	Telephones sets, including smartphones and other telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks; other apparatus for the transmission or reception of voice, images or other data, including apparatus for communication in a wired or wireless network (such as a local or wide area network), other than transmission or reception apparatus of heading 84.43, 85.25, 85.27 or 85.28	107.98	94.45	4	4.093	-12.532	-13.53
8708	Parts and accessories of the motor vehicles of headings 87.01 to 87.05	102.27	89.43	5	3.875	-12.557	-12.84
7225	Flat-rolled products of other alloy steel, of a width of 600m or more	73.55	84.42	6	3.658	14.772	10.87
7318	Screws, bolts, nuts, coach screws, screw hooks, rivets, cotters, cotter-pins, washers (including spring washers) and similar articles, of iron or steel	91.13	84.32	7	3.653	-7.477	-6.81
8411	Turbo-jets, turbo-propellers and other gas turbines	54.35	57.53	8	2.493	5.845	3.18
8483	Transmission shafts (including cam shafts and crank shafts) and cranks; bearing housings and plain shaft bearings; gears and gearing; ball or roller screw; gear boxes and other speed changers, including torque converters; flywheels and pulleys, including pulley blocks; clutches and shaft couplings (including universal joints)	53.16	49.97	9	2.165	-6.002	-3.19
7209	Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600 mm or more, cold-rolled (cold-reduced), not clad, plated or coated	27.71	40.98	10	1.776	47.898	13.27

 

 

Economic Cooperation Forum between Taiwan and Italy

Since 2011 an annual bilateral meeting is held alternatevly in Taiwan and Italy for the promotion of economic cooperation. Last business cooperation meeting was held in Milan, in November 2023 with Cieca and Confindustria.

 

TRADE PROMOTION SERVICES
 

www.taiwantrade.com.tw, Taiwan business database, Taiwan national B2B e-portal

https://www.taitra.org.tw/en/Default.aspx, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA)

https://www.trade.gov.tw/English/, Bureau of Foreign Trade

https://www.taiwantradeshows.com.tw/en_US/index.html, Taiwan Trade Shows Calendar

Taiwan excellent spirits and wine producers

 

 

 

LINKS
 

Customs Laws and Regulations, https://web.customs.gov.tw/en/

Travelers, https://web.customs.gov.tw/etaipei/multiplehtml/3396

Exporter/importer registration System, https://fbfh.trade.gov.tw/fb/web/homef.do#tabsE 

Quarantine regulation, https://www.aphia.gov.tw/en/ws.php?id=14258  

International trade shows, https://www.taiwantradeshows.com.tw/

 

 

---

Ufficio di Rappresentanza di Taipei - Viale Liegi n.17, 00198 Roma | Tel. 06-98262800 - P. Iva 97076980586