Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that, the latest import and export data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce showed that U.S. imports from Taiwan in December increased by approximately 144 percent year-over-year, reaching US$24.7 billion; while imports from mainland China decreased by nearly 44 percent year-over-year, falling to US$21.1 billion. This marks the first time in over three decades that U.S. imports from Taiwan have exceeded imports from mainland China.
Looking at the full-year data, the U.S. trade deficit with China decreased by nearly 32 percent to US$202.1 billion last year, the lowest level since 2005. Specifically, U.S. imports from China fell by nearly 30 percent to US$308.4 billion, the lowest since 2010; while exports to China decreased by nearly 26 percent to US$106.3 billion.
In the meantime, the U.S. trade deficit with Taiwan reached US$146.8 billion last year, an increase of 98 percent. Of this, U.S. imports from Taiwan increased by 73 percent to US$201.4 billion, while exports to Taiwan increased by 28 percent to US$54.6 billion.
After nearly 10 months of negotiations, Taiwan and the United States signed a reciprocal trade agreement on February 12. The significant growth in the supply of AI chips and servers is the reason for the surge in Taiwan’s exports to the United States.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao, February 20, 2026
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/news/china/story20260220-8602991