Pig farmers in Taiwan have raised concerns that opening the domestic market to pork imported from the United States will increase competition and affect prices, forcing farmers to exit the island.

In late August, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen announced that the government would ease restrictions on U.S. beef and pork imports while setting standards for pork containing ractopamine, an addictive that promoted leanness in the meat.

The announcement came under heavy criticism, with some people suggesting that it was an apparent attempt by the Tsai administration to use the import relaxation as a bargaining chip to exchange for a comprehensive trade deal with the U.S. and help incumbent Donald Trump get re-elected as U.S. president.

Politicians and health experts have also voiced concern about public health.

Amid the furore, Apple Daily visited a number of pig farms in Taiwan and found most of the farmers were worried that U.S. pork imports would affect prices in the local market. They urged the government to provide assistance for them to expand overseas.

One of the farmers, known as Lin, takes care of 1,000 local pigs in Taoyuan city, northwestern Taiwan. He said he was worried that the new policy would deal another blow to the already dwindling local market.

“Taiwan is not a big market. Pork prices will certainly go down if there is an oversupply,” Lin told Apple Daily, adding that local pig farmers would be forced to leave the industry.

Processing plants would be more likely to buy cheaper imported pork than the local product, he said.

It is understood that there are 5.5 million pigs currently in Taiwan’s farms, maintaining a market share of 86.2%.

Another pig farmer, surnamed Chen from Yunlin county in western Taiwan, said he believed that the move from the Tsai government was meant to benefit the whole island.

“We as local pig farmers are unhappy about the policy but we can only accept it,” Chan said, adding that he would try to lower his cost to compete with U.S. pork.

Most of Taiwan’s pig farms are found in the counties of Yunlin, Pingtung and Changhua, and mainly belonged to the pan-green political camp.

Although the government has pledged a NT$10 billion (US$344 million) package of subsidies to support pig farmers, most of them have reservations over the policy due to health concerns.

Lin Ching-shwun, a retired medical professor from the University of California, San Francisco, said that whether there was a health risk depended on the specified residue limit and the type of ractopamine found in the meat. He said ractopamine was low in toxicity.

Lin criticised some political parties and health experts for mixing up the figures of toxic clenbuterol with ractopamine.

In 2012, then Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang eased restrictions on importing U.S. beef containing ractopamine residues amid opposition from Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party.

Now, it is the KMT’s turn to protest Tsai’s decision. The party has issued orders to counties under its charge, banning any traces of ractopamine in pork products.

Tsai’s approval rating dropped by 4 percentage points to 48% after her announcement about U.S. pork and beef, the latest public opinion poll showed.

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