Taiwan’s industrial computer and chip designers are racing to fulfill urgent customer requests after former US President Donald Trump unexpectedly paused his reciprocal tariff plan for most countries except China for 90 days.
The abrupt policy shift announced Wednesday maintains a 10% tariff for most nations while raising China’s rate to 125%, causing a dramatic reaction from American customers who had previously told Taiwanese manufacturers to take their time with deliveries.
“Calls flooded in yesterday from clients wanting to accelerate shipments they’d earlier told us to ‘take it slow’ with,” said an unnamed IC design executive. The goal is clear: get products cleared through US customs during this 90-day window to minimize tariff impacts.
Industrial computer maker Weitian confirmed that while negotiations about the originally expected 32% tariff increases continue, some customers are now requesting expedited deliveries. The company stated the current 10% export duty to the US remains generally acceptable to clients.
Another Taiwan-based industrial computer manufacturer reported customers are pulling forward orders amid uncertainty whether Trump might again reverse course on trade policy.
The situation differs for server and network equipment makers. Quanta, Wistron and Inventec haven’t observed significant demand changes, partly due to their manufacturing facilities in Mexico and the US that remain unaffected by the tariffs.
However, iPhones manufactured in India have seen a rush-order effect as US consumers stock up amid escalating US-China trade tensions. Inventec expects server and laptop shipments to increase by single-digit percentages in Q2 compared to Q1, when customers began stockpiling due to tariff concerns.
Some IC design houses remain cautious, with one executive noting: “Customers want us to continue production but hold off on packaging for shipment, essentially making us carry the inventory burden.”
