US President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on April 2, leading to fluctuations in the stock, currency, and bond markets. According to the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, all three major industries—manufacturing, services, and construction—saw their business climate test points drop in April, with manufacturing experiencing a continuous decline for three months, while services and construction saw a four-month drop.

Taiwan Institute’s President Chang Chien-I pointed out that Trump's erratic tariff policies have intensified uncertainty in global financial markets, undermining manufacturers' confidence in future economic conditions. He also warned that despite many countries negotiating tariffs with the US, the risks remain; should negotiations fail, trade tensions are likely to escalate again.

Dr. Sun Ming-Teh, head of the Economic Forecast Center, observed that while manufacturers' outlook for the month has significantly worsened, there appear to be signs of a softening in Trump’s tariff attitude toward China. Policies may be turning; initial expectations that US tariffs would heavily impact the global economy may just be an overreaction, thus warranting continued observation.

Furthermore, Chang indicated that robust demand for artificial intelligence (AI) has resulted in impressive export performance for Taiwan. If the special budget of NT$410 billion is approved successfully, he believes the economic growth rate this year could remain above 3%.

Recently, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang announced that the company's headquarter would be established in Beishi Science Park, sparking renewed interest in the real estate market. However, according to the Taiwan Institute’s research, since the central bank’s seventh wave of credit control, confidence in homebuying has dropped to a new low in this property boom, making it difficult for short-term buying momentum to recover.