Chief Executive John Lee of Hong Kong has criticised the US for undermining global trade rules through its “ruthless” imposition of tariffs on trade partners, Reuters reports.
Washington no longer considers Hong Kong as a separate trade jurisdiction to mainland China, meaning SAR faces massive levy hikes on exports to the US from today, in spite of its status as a Special Autonomous Region (SAR).
Speaking on Tuesday, Lee promised to defend Hong Kong’s status as an international hub for free trade.
He said the SAR would sign free-trade deals with more countries and regions to help mitigate the impact of new tariffs imposed by the US, while further integrating with the Chinese mainland. He also confirmed that Hong Kong would not be imposing retaliatory tariffs on the US at this point.
“The US no longer adheres to free trade, arbitrarily undermining the internationally established rules of world trade, and its ruthless behaviour damages global and multilateral trade,” he said.
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Lee was referring to US President Trump’s so-called Liberation Day announcement last week, which saw fresh levies of between 10 and 50 percent imposed on US imports from around the world – with China’s cumulative rate reaching 54 percent. Trump has since said he would up that to 104 percent in response to Beijing’s own retaliatory tariffs on US imports.
Lee said he would focus on building on trade partnerships with countries in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. He specifically noted that new Hong Kong trade offices would be established in Egypt, Turkey and Cambodia, and that trade negotiations were already underway for investment agreements with Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and Peru.
“We will seize the world’s major trend of geographical diversification, proactively attracting foreign companies and capital … because Hong Kong can provide security and stability to investors,” the chief executive said.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 2.5 percent in mid-morning trade on Tuesday, after suffering its biggest drop since 1997 on Monday, when shares plummeted by 13.2 percent.
According to official data from the US, Hong Kong exported US$6 billion worth of goods to the US in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 46.3 percent. That same year saw the SAR import US$27.9 billion worth of goods from the US, up 7.6 percent compared with 2023.
