TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan registered 35,483 new cars in July, a drop of 22.3% from July 2024 amid uncertainty about the level of US tariffs on Taiwan imports, reports said Friday.

The US said Friday morning it had decided on a tariff of 20%, though Taiwan said talks would continue to lower what it called a “provisional” level. Car industry representatives said they expected more than 34,000 new registrations in August, per CNA.

During the January-July period, 234,450 new cars were registered, a decline of 15.7% from the same period last year. While car distributors launched promotions, consumers became cautious because of the high level of uncertainty about how tariffs would affect the vehicle sector.

Toyota and its Lexus luxury brand maintained their leading position in Taiwan’s car market, selling 13,636 vehicles in July for a market share of 38.4%. The Toyota brand marked an increase of 15% from June to selling 11,224 cars in July.

The number of imported cars fell 4.4% from June to 15,914, or 25.6% compared to June 2024. The share of imported cars in July fell to 44.8%.