Before the U.S.-China trade conflict in 2018, many people simplified free trade to reductions in production costs and tariff concessions. Many advocates of free trade have forgotten that the premise of free trade should be fair trade, not just the
reduction of production costs. Therefore, when a country’s government raises tariffs in order to avoid becoming a victim of unfair trade, it is not anti-globalization, but the pursuit of fair trade. In order to reduce production costs and expand sales markets,
many countries, including Taiwan, trade with China, but manufacturers in these countries have become targets of China’s economic coercion. Taiwan is a perfect example. Its agricultural products and fishery products, as well as food items, have long been banned from being exported to China under the pretext of pest infestations or failing inspections. The main purpose of the Chinese government in doing this is to economically coerce Taiwan by weaponizing some of Taiwan’s export products in the Chinese market. In order to mitigate the impact of China’s economic coercion on the Taiwanese government and manufacturers, Taiwan has taken measures to reduce
its economic dependence on China and Hong Kong. The share of Taiwan’s export value to those two destinations has significantly decreased from 40.1% in 2016 to 35.2% in 2023, while exports to the United States rose from 12% to 17.6% during the same period. As Taiwan’s export market becomes more diversified and Taiwanese businesses continue to leave China, the proportion of Taiwan’s exports to China will continue to decrease. As a result, the impact of China’s economic coercion on Taiwan will become less.
