Tough times for the industry were made worse by the liberalization of cross-strait trade in 1990. Inexpensive mainland Chinese inks flooded the Taiwan market, striking another blow to the livelihood of the island's few remaining ink makers. In the years since then, these craftsmen have aged and their numbers dwindled still further.
一九九○年海峽兩岸開放後，中國大陸的墨挾著價格優勢，大舉入侵台灣市場，嚴重衝擊製墨業的生計。