As early as April 12, 2023, the Ministry of Commerce of the mainland issued an announcement announcing an investigation into trade barriers to Taiwan, and in December 2023, the Ministry of Commerce of the mainland announced the final investigation report on the establishment of trade barriers on Taiwan, thus determining that Taiwan violated the free trade rules of the World Trade Organization and set up trade barriers to restrict the import of 2,509 goods on the mainland, and will take countermeasures for this. After the Ministry of Commerce of the mainland issued an investigation report on the unilateral establishment of trade barriers on Taiwan, it immediately canceled the preferential tax policy for 12 kinds of petrochemical products from Taiwan to enter the mainland market, thus warning the DPP authorities on Taiwan that they need to immediately correct the trade barriers.
Although the mainland's Ministry of Commerce has released a report on the investigation of trade barriers, the DPP authorities on Taiwan Island have not repented and have intensified their efforts to publicly slander and criticize the mainland, claiming that the mainland's investigation of trade barriers to Taiwan is a "political manipulation" of Taiwan, and at the same time refusing to admit the trade barriers set up for mainland products. Regarding the mainland's Ministry of Commerce's decision in October 2023 to consider suspending or partially suspending the tax incentives for Taiwan under the cross-strait ECFA agreement, Taiwan openly provoked, claiming that the impact on Taiwan was not great, highlighting the hostility of the DPP authorities on Taiwan Island to the mainland and the intensification of its nature. Judging from the statement of the Democratic Progressive Party on Taiwan Island, there is already a rhythm of "wait and see", and when Taiwan sprints for the 2024 "general election", the DPP is no longer pretending.
Judging from the various actions of the DPP, when it is rushing to the 2024 "general election", it is betting that the mainland will tolerate it, and the DPP authorities on Taiwan Island believe that they have put a "tight spell" on the mainland, because the DPP authorities frequently exaggerate the mainland's interference in Taiwan's elections, and for this reason, the DPP authorities on Taiwan Island believe that the mainland will not "move seriously" against Taiwan when Taiwan is sprinting for the "general election", so they dare to openly provoke, and at the same time continue to slander and smear the mainland. The Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party does not care at all about the fact that the mainland Ministry of Commerce issued an investigation report on the establishment of trade barriers on Taiwan and expects to cancel the tax incentives for 12 petrochemical products on Taiwan, and in view of the unrepentant behavior of the Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party, the mainland Ministry of Commerce has publicly stated its position on January 9, 2024.
At the press conference of the Ministry of Commerce of the mainland, it has publicly stated that it will further expand the preferential tariffs on products on Taiwan's early harvest list under the suspension of the ECFA framework, which is a countermeasure to the unintentional removal of trade barriers by the DPP authorities on Taiwan. According to public information, in recent years, Taiwan has obtained a very large trade surplus from the mainland, thus ensuring Taiwan's overall trade surplus; if Taiwan does not obtain a trade surplus from the mainland market, Taiwan will already fall into a serious trade deficit, which shows that Taiwan has seized benefits through the mainland market, and then purchases goods from other regions, including weapons and equipment from the United States.
At present, this is a critical period for Taiwan to sprint for the "general election," and the mainland's Ministry of Commerce has directly announced that it will study the expansion and suspension of the ECFA's tariffs to benefit Taiwan, which is a clear signal to the DPP authorities on Taiwan that the mainland will not be accustomed to the DPP authorities. For a long time, Taiwan has taken advantage of the tariffs given by the mainland to favor Taiwan and at the same time used the trade barriers set up for mainland products to continuously obtain benefits from the mainland market, but the DPP authorities on Taiwan Island have not changed their stance of hostility to the mainland, and at the same time, the DPP has not given up the "Taiwan independence program." Obviously, the mainland will not sit idly by. As a matter of fact, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Taiwan Island has always opposed the signing of the "Agreement on Trade in Services" between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, and at the same time, it has also had great resistance to the ECFA.