The headquarters of the World Commerce Group in Geneva on Feb. 5, 2024.
Fabrice Coffrini | Afp | Getty Photographs
Hong Kong will file a criticism on current U.S. tariffs imposed on town to the World Commerce Group, claiming the U.S. has fully ignored town’s standing as a separate customs territory, chief secretary Eric Chan mentioned on Tuesday.
“That is completely inconsistent with the WTO guidelines. In fact, they’ve completely disregarded Hong Kong is a separate customs territory,” Chan, the China-ruled metropolis’s quantity two official, advised reporters.
“We’ll file a criticism to the WTO concerning this unreasonable association,” he mentioned with out giving specifics.
Chan was responding to a U.S. resolution to impose 10% tariffs on items from the Asian monetary hub as U.S. President Donald Trump targets Chinese language imports.
The U.S. Postal Service final week suspended all inbound mail and packages from China and Hong Kong, then reversed that call quickly afterwards.
The transfer to cease accepting parcels from China and Hong Kong had precipitated chaos and confusion amongst retailers and specific transport corporations over the way to take care of the U.S. tariffs.
“All I can say is the insurance policies are mercurial,” mentioned Chan.
Trump’s transfer additionally included closing the “de minimis” obligation exemption for packages valued at beneath $800, with the acknowledged intention of stopping the circulation of fentanyl and precursor chemical substances into america.
Hong Kong has lengthy been referred to as a free and open buying and selling hub, however China’s imposition on Hong Kong of a sweeping nationwide safety legislation in 2020 drew criticism from the U.S. and led it to finish the previous British colony’s particular standing beneath U.S. legislation, escalating tensions between China and the U.S.
The U.S. subsequently stipulated that items made in Hong Kong for export to the U.S. wanted to be labelled as made in China, ending one in every of Hong Kong’s longstanding aggressive benefits as a buying and selling hub.