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WTO rules US was flouting international trade rules by labelling imports from Hong Kong as those from China

By mislabeling imports from Hong Kong as coming from China, the United States was breaking international trade laws, the World Trade Organization (WTO) found on Wednesday, December 21. US disagrees with this judgement.

The WTO judgement addressed a decision made by the previous administration of President Donald Trump after Beijing adopted a broad security law on the financial centre in 2020 to quell criticism.

Trump replied by taking away the city’s special trading privileges, and US customs officials later announced that items made there could no longer bear the ‘Made in Hong Kong’ label, which sparked the complaint.

Hong Kong claims that the US ignored its status as a distinct member of the WTO in making this decision. Hong Kong claims that this is against trade laws.

On Wednesday, a panel set up by the WTO’s dispute settlement body said that the original marking requirement was ‘not justified’ under global trade rules.

It added that the US ‘has not demonstrated that the situation at issue constitutes an emergency in international relations.’

The US’s labeling requirement also gives Hong Kong products ‘less favorable’ treatment than others, the panel said, adding that goods of other countries bear their own name rather than that of another WTO member.

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