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Hong Kong pushes WTO to form panel over ‘Made-in-China’ labelling row after ‘disappointing’ US response
- Fresh action at global trade body necessary as nothing substantive has followed filing of October complaint, commerce secretary Edward Yau says
- US decision to force local producers to relabel goods represents blow to city’s reputation for high-quality products, some exporters say
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Hong Kong has taken further action against the United States at the World Trade Organization in its battle to undo Washington’s unilateral decision to make the city tag its exports “Made in China”.
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Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah on Thursday said the government had asked the WTO’s dispute settlement body to set up a panel to look at the conflict, something that could happen by February 22 at the earliest.
Yau said the city had no choice after US authorities failed to offer a substantive response in the more than two months since Hong Kong formally filed a complaint with the WTO on October 30.
“The US’ response is disappointing,” he said. “It is necessary for us to take further action against the US in accordance with the [WTO] mechanism to defend Hong Kong’s interests.”
The dispute arose after US President Donald Trump filed an executive order in July ending the special treatment the city enjoyed under the Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992. A month later, a notice followed requiring local exporters to relabel goods bound for the US – a move designed to underscore the financial hub’s status as “just another Chinese city”.
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Trump’s order came on the heels of Beijing’s June 30 imposition of a national security law on Hong Kong targeting acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.
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