Taiwan fastener exports to the U.S. fell 14.8% to 252,275 tons during the first six months of 2026.
June shipments dropped to 40,270 tons, down by 9.8% from May, which fell 11.5% from April, and 14.6% from June of the previous year.
Monthly export volumes have now remained under 50,000 tons for 11 consecutive months.
The downturn impacted overall export distributions, lowering the U.S. share of Taiwan’s total fastener exports to 44.6%.
Recent trends show a contraction in volume even as year-over-year pricing remained higher.
For the U.S., Taiwan has been the No. 1 source of screws and metal fasteners like nuts and bolts for more than three decades, with China gaining ground as the second largest.
But fastener export volume and value have declined since President Donald Trump surprised Taiwan with 50% tariffs on fasteners in 2025.
Taiwan’s total fastener export volume and value both declined in 2025, indicating weak overall demand. The U.S. remained the island nation's largest market (44.5% of overall fastener exports), but both export volume and value declined, with volume falling 6.4% to 534.62 million (kg) and value dropping 7.6% to $1.79 billion.
U.S. tariffs are only one factor hurting fastener exports from Taiwan. Rising high-tech manufacturing wages, land cost increases, and electricity price hikes “have also left Taiwanese fastener manufacturers unable to offer competitive pricing,” according to Fastener World.
Taiwan’s fastener exports, which once peaked at 1.65 million tons annually, have hovered around 1.2 million tons in recent years.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that U.S. tariffs on Taiwanese fasteners were 15%. Actually, U.S. tariffs on Taiwanese fasteners are 50% under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. FIN apologizes for the error.
