Taiwan elected its new leader, Ching-te (William) Lai (賴清德), at a time when its trade relationship with mainland China has been strained. Lai's past statements about trade raise the possibility of a deepening rift with China.

At today's press conference, the spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) commented on recent developments in trade relations with Taiwan, the anti-dumping investigation on EU brandy, and Western export controls on semiconductor equipment.

As the result of a recently completed trade barriers investigation, Beijing announced that it would suspend tariff concessions to Taiwan under the Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA). The scope of the suspension is very limited, although it may serve as an early warning for further restrictions down the road.

Last Friday, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) issued the final ruling in the trade barrier investigation against Taiwan, and unsurprisingly found that Taiwan's trade restrictive measures constitute trade barriers. MOFCOM did not, however, discuss what the next steps might be.

The spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, Zhu Fenglian, said last week that her agency supports the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) investigation of Taiwanese trade barriers, with the potential result of the investigation being the suspension of preferential tariff treatment for some Taiwanese imports. In response