Scrapping Hong Kong’s special trade status with the United States, as threatened by Washington, would harm the interests of both sides, the city’s commerce chief said on Friday.
Trade is a two-way street and brings mutual benefits, Edward Yau Tang-wah, secretary for commerce and economic development, told the media.
It is hypocritical that the US said it stands by and supports Hong Kong people. But meanwhile, what it is trying to do is intending to harm Hong Kong’s interests
Edward Yau Tang-wah,
secretary for commerce and economic development
Such unilateral action hurts bilateral relations between Hong Kong and the US, and the damage will depend on what concrete actions the US takes, Yau said.
“It is hypocritical that the US said it stands by and supports Hong Kong people. But meanwhile, what it is trying to do is intending to harm Hong Kong’s interests,” he said.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asserted that Hong Kong no longer qualifies for its special trade status under US law, which grants the city tariff exemptions and allows it to import sensitive technology, hours before China’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress adopted a decision on Thursday to craft a national security law for the special administrative region.
Yau said the SAR government takes exception to such a claim. “The special trading status that Hong Kong enjoys is part and parcel of ‘one country, two systems’. It is granted by the Basic Law. It’s not a gift given by any other countries,” he said.
He noted that Hong Kong’s status as a customs area separate from the rest of China is recognized through multilateral trading relations as well as its membership in the World Trade Organization.
According to the Hong Kong Trade and Industry Department, the US was Hong Kong’s second-largest bilateral trade partner in the world with the value of total trade reaching HK$516.9 billion ($66.66 billion) last year — just behind the Chinese mainland.
Figures provided by the government show that in the past decade, the US’ trade surplus with Hong Kong has been the biggest among all its trading partners, with the merchandise trade surplus totaling $297 billion from 2009 to 2018. In 2019, the surplus had come down from $31.4 billion in 2018 to $26.4 billion as a result of the Sino-US trade tensions.
Any sanctions contemplated in other areas like professional services and investment would also harm the interests of the 1,300 US corporations based in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong government said in a press release on Thursday.
