Taiwanese chipmaking titan TSMC reported Thursday a surge in net profit for the first quarter, as the spectre of US tariffs on the critical technology clouded the outlook for demand.

TSMC said its net profit for the first three months of 2025 rose 60.3 percent from a year ago to NT$361.56 billion ($11.1 billion).

That beat expectations for NT$346.76 billion, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts.

Net revenue for the quarter soared nearly 42 percent to NT$839.25 billion on-year, also beating forecasts, figures released by the company last week showed.

The first quarter ended before US President Donald Trump's so-called "Liberation Day" tariffs on April 2.

TSMC, which counts Nvidia and Apple among its clients, has been in the cross-hairs of Trump, who has accused Taiwan of stealing the US chip industry.

There had been hopes in Taiwan that TSMC's plan to invest an additional $100 billion in the United States would shield the island from new tariffs.

Trump still imposed a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese imports as part of his sweeping tariffs on global trade partners -- which he later paused for 90 days -- but it excluded semiconductors.

Now, Washington is pushing forward with plans to slap import levies on semiconductors and chip-making equipment, with the launch of "national security" probes into the industry.