‘Prepare for the worst’ from US-China trade war, Hong Kong commerce minister Edward Yau warns
Yau unveils relief measures for smaller local businesses, seeing no end in sight to clash over tariffs
Hong Kong must prepare for the worst from the raging US-China trade war by throwing a lifeline to smaller companies appealing for help, the city’s commerce minister said on Thursday.
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah revealed new relief measures aimed at easing the financial burden on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with banks tightening credit and no end in sight to the worsening confrontation.
“After discussing with the various chambers of commerce for the ninth time in the last seven or eight months, I think the general consensus is that the dispute between the US and China over trade is unlikely to be resolved in a short period of time,” he said. “We therefore have to prepare for the worst and for this battle to be played long.”
Back in Hong Kong after leading a business delegation to Washington last month to lobby US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and other officials, Yau said that his American counterparts “understood” the city’s position.
Since firing the first shot of the trade war in July with a series of tariffs, US President Donald Trump has slapped 10 per cent tariffs on another US$200 billion worth of Chinese products, with the rate set to rise to 25 per cent on January 1. China has hit back with tariffs of 5 to 10 per cent on US$60 billion worth of American goods.