Premier Su Tseng-chang says Taiwan hopes to find new overseas markets to sell its locally-grown sugar apples and wax apples. Su’s words on Wednesday come after China temporarily banned imports of the two fruits.
China is still the largest overseas buyer of Taiwanese agricultural produce, accounting for just over half of all fruit exports in 2021. However, that proportion has fallen significantly in the last year. In 2020, China was the destination for three quarters of all Taiwanese fruit exports.
Su says China’s ban on Taiwanese sugar and wax apples is “extremely improper”. He says China is not following the rules and regulations of international trade.
Meanwhile, Su says Taiwan is following proper procedure by asking China to cancel the ban. He says if that has no effect, Taiwan will ask international organizations to weigh in.
Su says Taiwan will also look for new markets for its agricultural produce to make up the gap left by China’s recent ban. Taiwan successfully navigated China’s earlier ban on Taiwanese pineapples. In the wake of that ban, pineapple shipments to Japan increased more than eightfold.
Su says the government is well aware that it “cannot put its eggs in one basket” when it comes to export markets. He says the government is working hard to make sure fruit farmers do not suffer from the effects of China’s ban.