A view of the Taiwan Straits is seen from Xiamen port, in East China's Fujian Province. Photo: IC

China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Tuesday that the mainland authorities are considering ending tariff concessions for more products imported from Taiwan island as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities have engaged in political maneuvering rather than taking effective measures to remove trade restrictions since the mainland suspended tariff cuts on 12 Taiwan products. 

The DPP authorities have not taken any effective measures to remove trade restrictions on the Chinese mainland since the announcement of the suspension on December 21, 2023 which came into effect on January 1, 2024. Instead, the Taiwan authorities have engaged in political maneuvering in an attempt to evade responsibility, MOFCOM said. 

Relevant departments from the Chinese mainland are studying further measures in accordance with relevant provision of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) and related policies and regulations. 

The measures include suspending the tariff concession for products of the Early Harvest Program under the ECFA, covering agricultural and fishery products, machinery, automobile parts and accessories, textiles and other commodities, according to MOFCOM. 

Analysts have stated that these measures align with WTO rules and the ECFA between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan. The DPP authorities, however, have failed to acknowledge their own politicization of trade issues and the negative impact it has on cross-Straits trade cooperation. Instead, they persist in imposing trade restrictions on mainland products. 

Wang Jianmin, a senior cross-Straits expert at Minnan Normal University, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the latest products listed cover major fields of the early harvest goods under the ECFA, which may have a further impact on Taiwan, as these areas are major parts of Taiwan's traditional industries.  

The Chinese mainland authorities announced in December that preferential tariffs on a dozen chemical products including propylene from the island of Taiwan would be scrapped, as the island was found to have violated ECFA rules with its discriminatory restrictions on the mainland's exports.

Global Times