Hong Kong trade has been affected by the US-China trade war. Photo: Roy Issa
Source:
https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3024756/us-china-trade-war-hits-hong-kong-exports-watches Hong Kong economy
US-China trade war hits Hong Kong exports of watches and clocks
- Year-on-year dip of 2.6 per cent recorded for the first seven months of the year
- Numbers come ahead of major trade show in the city next week
The Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair is scheduled to kick off next Tuesday. Winson Wong
Hong Kong exports of watches and clocks edged down slightly in the first seven months of this year under the shadow of the US-China trade war, with uncertainties looming over an imminent annual trade show.
The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) said on Wednesday the timepieces’ export value had dropped 2.6 per cent year on year, to HK$36.4 billion (US$4.6 billion) during the period.
Benjamin Chau Kai-leung, the council’s deputy executive director, blamed the fall mainly on the trade war, saying the United States was the second-biggest trading partner, after mainland China, for local watch and clock suppliers.
“One of the things they can do is relocate production lines to other places, and factory owners are looking into it,” he said, suggesting businesses also try to diversify their markets, selling to places such as Asean countries.
Chau’s remarks came as US tariff increases, from 10 to 15 per cent, on US$300 billion of Chinese imports, many of them consumer goods, moved a step closer.
The US government worked quickly on President Donald Trump’s decree last Friday that tariffs already scheduled for implementation on September 1 and December 15 have their rates increased by 5 per cent.
That was in response to China’s decision earlier that day to impose retaliatory tariffs of between 5 and 10 per cent on US$75 billion worth of American products, including soybeans, pork and, for the first time, crude oil.
China also reinstated the 25 per cent penalty duty on imports of US-made cars and car parts.
While the world’s two biggest economies were far from reaching a solution on the trade dispute, local watch and clock manufacturers set their eyes on the 38th HKTDC Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair, slated to kick off next Tuesday.
The five-day show is the world’s largest event of its kind and will showcase about 830 exhibitors from 22 countries and regions, up 0.2 per cent from last year.
On what kind of effect the ongoing anti-government protests would have on exhibitors, Chau said: “I don’t dare to say none. But it seems to be quite minimal.”
He noted only one firm cancelled their exhibition at the fair, and added that some “marginal buyers” could be deterred from trading in the city.