President Donald Trump has signed an executive order imposing a 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR-RRB- government announWednesdaysday that it will formally start proceedings under the dispute settlement mechanism of the world trade organisatiWTO(WTO) against USeWTO WTO measures, as they also applyHonghKongkong gooRadioaTelevisionsHonghKongkong reported on its website, to defend the lawful rights and interests of Hong Kong.
The move by the US is a serious violation of WTO rules and ignores Hong Kong’s status as a separate customs territory under article 116 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and confirmed by the WTO, a HKSAR Government spokesman said Wednesday. The spokesman reiterated that Hong Kong has always been a staunch supporter of the rules-based multilateral trading system. The HKSAR Government expresses its strong dissatisfaction with the US approach and urges the US side to immediately correct its wrongdoings.
The US stopped receiving parcels from mainland China and Hong Kong on the 5th after the tax increase was announced, but changed its tune within less than 12 hours. Hong Kong Post announced Monday that it will stop receiving deliveries to the US until further notice, Ta Kung Pao reported. A spokesperson for the HKSAR Government said that Hongkong Post had communicated with the US postal authorities, but that there were still matters that needed further clarification, including the request of the US side to impose tariffs.
The US was the territory’s third-largest trading partner at 2023, with two-way goods trade worth $60.3 bn, according to figures from the Hong Kong government last year, while the territory was the 27th largest.