Hong Kong officials, exporters urge US to respect WTO ruling on not needing ‘Made in China’ label for city goods

Hong Kong officials and exporters have joined a chorus of calls urging the United States to abide by a World Trade Organization ruling that it stop requiring local goods to be labelled “Made in China”, saying the city’s long-term brand development was at stake.

Rejecting the ruling by a WTO panel that the United States had broken global trading rules with its labelling move, the US trade representative said Washington did not intend to remove the requirement and called the body’s decision a “flawed interpretation”.

Speaking hours after the ruling, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po and commerce minister Algernon Yau Ying-wah on Thursday separately slammed the US ban on the “Made in Hong Kong” label and said the city’s objection was necessary as it was a matter of principle.

The ban had a minimal financial impact on the city, they noted.

The city’s economy had long relied on the service industry and re-exports to mainland China, said Chan, who was speaking at the Hong Kong Brands and Products Expo at Victoria Park, where he took the consul generals of Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines for a visit.

Hong Kong’s domestic exports to the United States, equivalent to HK$7.4 billion (US$949.4 million), accounted for only 0.1 per cent of the total figure last year, while re-exports took up HK$302.3 billion.