Mexico temporarily becomes a safe haven for Taiwanese EMS providers.
The US has been highly dependent on overseas production for servers, with server import value reaching US$61.76 billion in 2024. Among the sources, Mexico and Taiwan are the two major suppliers of servers to the US market, which is estimated to account for over 60% of Taiwanese EMS providers' server-related revenue.
On April 2, President Trump announced reciprocal tariffs imposing up to a 32% tax rate on servers exported from Taiwan, directly increasing assembly costs for L10-L12 servers in the US.
Conversely, under the framework of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), Mexico currently enjoys zero tariffs, which is expected to boost its share of server exports to the US; meanwhile, domestic US assembly may shrink due to rising costs. Among Taiwan's four major EMS companies, only Quanta Computer has yet to establish manufacturing facilities in Mexico.
Taiwan firms lead in servers, keep over 90% of global market share
Taiwan server revenue mainlycontributed by the top 4 EMS providers
US is the largest server market worldwide, importing US$62b in 2024
Chart 4: 2024 US server imports by country and share, 2024 (US$b)
Taiwan server exports to US had no tariffs before reciprocal tariff
Chart 5: Server export relationship among Taiwan, Mexico, and US before reciprocal tariff
Taiwan faces a 32% reciprocal tariff; Mexico is off due to USMCA
Chart 6: Influence of reciprocal tariffs on Taiwan and Mexico
Chart 7: Server export relationship among Taiwan, Mexico, and US after reciprocal tariff
Chart 9: Reciprocal tariffs hinder US AI server manufacturing
