Hong Kong vows to hit back against any ‘discriminatory’ US trade actions
Commerce chief says trade row may have spillover effect – and it could push China to find other partners and new markets, according to observers
Hong Kong will fight back against any discriminatory trade actions brought by US President Donald Trump’s plan to impose US$60 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports, a senior commerce official said on Friday.
The remarks by Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah came as observers said Trump’s move would do more harm than good, and may push China to find new markets.
“If anything is imposed on Hong Kong in a unilateral and discriminatory way, such as on aluminium materials, Hong Kong will not hold back – we will voice our strong disapproval ... We have made this clear bilaterally and multilaterally,” Yau told the South China Morning Post.
“We need to be concerned because both the US and mainland China are our major trading partners ... and there will be a spillover effect on their trading partners,” he said, adding that the Hong Kong government would closely monitor tariffs imposed by the United States and China on each other’s goods.
