US imports from Malaysia hit record $8.6 billion in August

The News

US goods imports from Malaysia reached $8.6 billion in August, the highest monthly total on record.

Imports were up 95% from August 2025 and 14% from July.
The last record was set in May, at $7.9 billion.

The details

Parts for computers and the storage drives that go inside them explain most of the $4.2 billion jump. Parts for computers rose to $2.2 billion in August from $416 million a year earlier. Solid-state storage drives rose to $1.8 billion from $147 million.

Together the two lines added $3.4 billion, or 82% of the increase.
Phone and network gear, mostly switches and routers, rose 86% to $918 million.
Finished computers, led by servers and other processing units, rose 287% to $272 million.
These four lines made up 97% of the increase.

At the same time, chips and most of Malaysia’s other big exports to the US fell or held flat. US imports of integrated circuits from Malaysia dropped 31% to $448 million in August. The drop came in processors and controllers, which fell to $294 million from $556 million, while memory chips tripled to $59 million.

Furniture fell 23% to $81 million.
Medical instruments fell 20% to $73 million.
Rubber gloves held at $150 million.

Malaysia’s own trade figures show the same surge, which its trade ministry credits to a US tariff exemption for electronics. Malaysia’s exports to the US rose 69% to 282 billion ringgit in the first nine months of the year. Electrical and electronic goods make up about 64% of what it ships to the US.

The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry said Malaysia has been exempted from additional US tariffs on most semiconductor and electronics products, “a critical factor driving this growth.”
In Malaysia’s figures, its furniture exports to the US fell 19% and medical device exports fell 12%.

Compared with other big Asian suppliers, Malaysia had the biggest jump in August, though Thailand and Taiwan have grown faster over the year so far. Imports from Malaysia rose 44% in the first eight months, the same pace as Vietnam. Imports from China fell 16% over the same months, while total US imports rose 4%.

In August alone, imports from Vietnam rose 61%, Thailand 59% and Taiwan 39%.
Over the eight months, Thailand rose 71% and Taiwan 57%.
Nationwide, imports of computers, semiconductors and telecom gear are up $273 billion this year, against a $107 billion rise in all goods imports.

Worth noting

The 95% jump starts from a weak month. August 2025 imports of $4.4 billion were the lowest since February 2025. Against the 2025 monthly average of about $5 billion, August 2026 is still up 73%.