The 2026 Taiwan International Tools & Hardware Expo x International Hardware Expo Taiwan (TiTE x IHT), co-organized by the Taiwan Hand Tool Manufacturers' Association (THMA) and Lanza International Co., Ltd., closed on October 22 at the Taichung International Convention & Exhibition Center (TICEC).
Under the theme "TEAM TAIWAN: From Manufacturing to Co-Creation | AI Empowerment, Smart Upgrading," nearly 450 companies filled more than 1,000 booths across two exhibition floors. The three-day show welcomed more than 300 international buyers from 65 countries, with over 100 business matchmaking meetings held on site.
Taiwan's Hardware Industry and Tariffs
Opening the show for the second consecutive year, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te noted that the country's 2,500 hardware and tool manufacturers exported NT$112 billion last year, claiming that the 15% Taiwan–U.S. reciprocal tariff, with no stacking on MFN rates, puts Taiwanese hand tools, plumbing hardware and machine tools on equal footing with Japan, Korea and the EU in the U.S. market.
Additionally, six sessions of the TEAM TAIWAN Global Hardware Summit ran alongside the show, mapping the path to industrial upgrading across market trends, material co-creation, AI applications and decarbonization.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te (center) attends TiTE x IHT for the second consecutive year, touring the show floor accompanied by event co-organizers Alan Hsieh (left), Chairman of the Taiwan Hand Tool Manufacturers' Association, and Andrew Liu (right), General Manager of Lanza International Co., Ltd., to inspect exhibitor booths and learn about the latest R&D achievements in Taiwan's hand tool and smart manufacturing industries.Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office
Over 300 International Buyers from 65 Countries
Of the more than 300 international buyers, over 100 were key buyers personally invited by the organizers. Buyers came from North America, Europe, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East, representing procurement teams of leading American and German tool brands, Japanese professional hand tool brands and major home improvement retailers in Europe and the Americas.
From Manufacturing to Co-Creation: Connecting the Complete Supply Chain
TiTE x IHT 2027 will take place October 19–21 at TICEC. The organizers project 500 exhibitors and 1,200 booths and will scale up the Global Buyer Day.
As sourcing shifts from individual products to the entire supply chain, the show looks to grow in step, extending upstream from finished tools to key components and processes, with two expanded zones that bring manufacturers from across Taiwan to Taichung.
The Mechanical Components & Machined Metal Parts zone will cover gears, bearings and transmission parts; forgings, castings, stampings and precision-machined parts and processing technologies such as heat treatment, surface treatment and inspection. It is designed for design engineering, prototyping, production engineering and procurement teams in automotive and EV, aerospace and defense, semiconductor equipment, robotics and automation, machine tools and industrial machinery and energy equipment.
The Rescue & Industrial Safety zone will build on this year's focus on whole-of-society resilience, bringing together rescue and extrication tools, personal protective equipment, work-at-height and emergency response equipment for fire services, disaster relief agencies, public works and corporate safety buyers.
"After the supply chain realignment, international buyers no longer evaluate a single product. They evaluate whether a sourcing region can integrate everything from materials and components to finished goods, reliably and quickly," Lanza General Manager Andrew Liu said. "Expanding our zones puts the integration capability of Taiwan's manufacturing industry in front of buyers and helps Taiwan's hardware industry evolve from a reliable manufacturer into an irreplaceable co-creation partner for global brands. We want Taichung to be the first stop for sourcing Taiwan-made products."
