State Department Says Hong Kong Still Does Not Warrant Differential Treatment from Mainland China

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has certified that Hong Kong still does not warrant differential treatment under U.S. law in the same manner as U.S. laws were applied to Hong Kong before 1 July 1997. As a result, the United States will continue to treat Hong Kong as part of mainland China for purposes of various U.S. statutes, including those regulating U.S. export controls as well as country of origin marking requirements.

President Trump issued an executive order on 14 July 2020 ending the United States’ special trade treatment of Hong Kong in response to mainland China’s imposition of a new security law with respect to that special administrative region. The EO suspended different and preferential treatment for Hong Kong with respect to various U.S. statutes, including the Arms Export Control Act, the Export Control Reform Act of 2018, 19 U.S.C. 1304 (marking of imported articles and containers), section 103 of the Immigration Act of 1990, and section 721(m) of the Defense Production Act of 1950.

According to a press release by the State Department, over the past year mainland China “has continued to dismantle Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, in violation of its obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration and Hong Kong’s Basic Law.” Blinken said he is committed to continuing to work with Congress and U.S. allies and partners around the world to address mainland China’s policies and actions with respect to Hong Kong.