Taitung's fruit growers are hurting after China cut them off, and the fix — new markets and processing — will take years, which is bad news for aging farmers in the short term.

• China stopped buying Taitung's pineapple sugar apples in 2021 over a pest claim, then scrapped zero-tariff treatment on more than 30 Taiwanese fruits in 2024.
• Growers now face a tariff near 29% selling into China, while Southeast Asian rivals ship in duty-free.
• Prices collapsed after China pulled out and many farmers simply cut down their trees.
• Taipei says it will help farmers spread sales worldwide and wants farm agencies on both sides to settle pest disputes on science, not politics.
• Alternative markets are tiny so far — Singapore takes a fraction of what China once bought, and Japan and South Korea worry about a fruit fly that is harder to clear than the old pest.

Outlook: Expect a slow shift toward frozen and processed products, branding pushes in Japan and Southeast Asia, and some farmers switching crops, with no quick return to the China trade.