China To End Preferential Tariffs On 134 Taiwan Imports

China on Friday said it would remove preferential tariffs on more than a hundred imports from Taiwan, blaming the island’s continued “discriminatory prohibitions” on goods from the mainland.

The special rates will be removed from 134 goods, including machine tools and industrial chemicals, an appendix shared by Beijing’s Customs Tariff Commission showed.

The new tariffs will come into effect on June 15, Beijing said.

China has seethed in the wake of the inauguration of Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te, last week encircling the island in a massive two-day military drill and warning its leadership was pushing the island towards “war”.

Commenting on Friday’s decision, Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office slammed the territory’s alleged discriminatory practices against mainland products as well as the Lai administration.

“Facts have once again proved that there will be no peace and no development if ‘Taiwan independence’ is pursued,” spokesperson Chen Binhua said.

In response, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council urged Beijing to pursue “constructive dialogue”.

It also called on Beijing to “stop economic and trade pressure” and work with the island “to face issues and seek practical solutions through communication”.

China was long Taiwan’s largest trading partner, though it has in recent months been overtaken by the United States owing to a surge in demand for microchip products and AI technology.

Beijing has slapped trade curbs on goods from Taiwan at times of high tensions between the two.

Last year, it banned mango imports from the island, citing “reasonable biosecurity precaution” after it claimed pests had been found in fruit shipments.

And in 2021, authorities suspended imports of pineapples from Taiwan after also saying it discovered pests, prompting a rebuke from Taipei, calling the move “politically driven”.

AFP