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Taiwan is the United States' sixth largest export market for food and agricultural products. With the highest GDP per capita in Eastern Asia, the island imported over US $30 million of coffee from the US in 2021.

Taiwan’s GDP per capita is expected to surpass Japan and Korea, making its consumers with the strongest spending power in Eastern Asia. At the same time, demand for international sweets and snacks are growing as consumers compensate for not being able to travel abroad. ATO-Taipei conducted retail research on popular products and origins to show market opportunities and preferences.

Taiwan is the seventh-largest market for U.S. agricultural exports. Taiwan has vibrant urban communities and a highly developed e-commerce industry that provides convenience for customers, all which support Taiwan’s continued demand for safe and high-quality food products. In addition, evolving consumption trends suggest customers are increasingly looking for western-style food options that cannot be locally sourced. Since domestic food production alone cannot match increased food demand, agricultural imports will continue to play an important role in Taiwan’s retail food economy. While trade barriers exist and competition intensifies, opportunities to increase U.S. agricultural exports remain promising.

On September 15, 2022, Taiwan announced the extension of tariff and tax exemptions for several agricultural commodities till the end of 2022. The tariff on beef and selective butter products and milk powder is reduced by 50 percent, the tariff on wheat and the business tax on imported corn, soybeans and wheat are waived. These measures have been in place since December 2021.

Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) will implement new certification requirements for imported meat products, effective October 1, 2022. The current U.S. certificates for meat products will continue to be used, with the extra information required to be inserted in specific sections.

Covid-19 has accelerated digitalization and propelled emergence of new trends in Taiwan – rapidly growing cloud kitchens, popularizing at-home cooking, and expanding retail presence of frozen and prepared meals.

Taiwan's food service sector suffered a second year of decline due to the pandemic's negative effects as well as food ingredient and logistic cost inflations. Nevertheless, the US continue to be the leading supplier of various ingredients used in the market, such as beef, poultry, and cheese.

Taiwan exported $511 million of agricultural & related products to the U.S. in 1st Half 2022 out of $ 2.8 billion of total exports. Despite total exports declining by 7 percent year-on-year, exports to the U.S. increased 14 percent.

Taiwan is going through an unprecedented phase of high-end wine consumption growth, placing the United States as the second largest foreign supplier by value. Being the U.S. wine’s sixth largest valuable Asian market, Taiwan achieved its outsized impact for purchasing high-end U.S. wine.

In 2021, Taiwan production of forage crops accounted for 45 percent of demand. Taiwan imports approximately 300,000 tons of forage products annually to supplement domestic production, which is constrained by limited farmland and suitable climate conditions.

Taiwan is the third largest export market for U.S. peaches and nectarines and the fifth largest export market for U.S. cherries. In MY 2021/22, Taiwan imported 16,330 MT of fresh peaches/ nectarines and 13,851 MT of fresh cherries. The U.S. share of the import market is around 70 percent for peaches/nectarines and 42 percent for cherries.

Retail food outlets in Taiwan are comprised of convenience stores, supermarkets, and hypermarkets, which generated $32.4 billion worth of sales in 2021, a 2.2 percent growth from 2020. The United States continues to be the leading supplier of consumer-oriented food and agricultural products to Taiwan with popular products such as beef and fresh fruit taking over 30 percent of total market share.