China halted natural sand exports to Taiwan and some fish and fruit from the island on Wednesday following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s arrival on the island.
The sand export announcement, made in a statement by China’s Ministry of Commerce, said the move was based on provisions of related law but gave no further details.
China’s General Administration of Customs said in a separate statement that the suspension of imports was due to excessive pesticide residue detected “multiple times” on products since last year, as well as on some frozen fish packages that tested positive for coronavirus in June.
China previously halted natural sand exports to Taiwan in March 2007, citing environmental concerns, and lifted the ban about one year later. Taiwan activated a contingency plan at the time, including importing materials from the Philippines and using local river sand to close the gap.
Taiwan imported 5.67 million metric tons of sand and gravel in 2020, with natural sand constituting about 8% of total, according to a report from Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs. More than 90% of Taiwan’s imported sand and gravel is from China, due to much higher transportation costs from other countries like Vietnam, the report said.
China is Taiwan’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade rising 26% on year to US$328.3 billion last year. Taiwan held a sizable surplus against China, with exports from the island hitting US$250 billion, according to Chinese customs data. However, while Beijing could leverage that advantage by sanctioning exporters, China also relies on Taiwan for semiconductor supplies.
