Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis says National is trying to "economically sabotage New Zealand," as the National Party president is a director on the board of Sanford, who have complained of delays exporting salmon to China.
Mr Davis says the story is only an issue because Peter Goodfellow has ties to both National and Sanford.
"This is one company who is having a problem, it isn't a trend, in fact MPI says that there are no trends going on but we've also got to be upfront and say that the president of the National Party is in fact a director on the board there (Sanford) and that's the reason that's become an issue.
"It's irresponsible politics. I think the National Party had a warning this week about playing politics and they continue to do so.
"I think they're trying to economically sabotage New Zealand and undermine what's a very strong relationship with China," Mr Davis told 1 NEWS.
Sanford chief customer officer Andre Gargiulo has said several of its fresh salmon shipments faced delays when being cleared through Chinese ports over the past month.
"We have recently faced administrative issues with our salmon exports to China, which have caused delays getting shipments cleared through Chinese ports," he said.
"We have not been given a reason for this by local authorities."
Earlier Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the relationship between New Zealand and China is a complex one and has its challenges after it was questioned this month.
The National Party questioned the relationship after an Air New Zealand flight was turned back from Shanghai on Sunday, and a Chinese tourism event scheduled for next Wednesday at Te Papa was postponed.
They also questioned why Ms Ardern hasn't visited China as Prime Minister.
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