'Joe Biden Will Reverse Anti-HK Trade Policies'

The Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprises Association said it is banking on the incoming US president, Joe Biden, to reverse a series of trade sanctions and anti-China policies that had been introduced by incumbent Donald Trump.

The honorary chairman of the association, Danny Lau, made the comment as a rule requiring all products made in the city for export to the US to be labelled as “Made in China" came into effect on Monday.

Trump had made the decision back in June, saying Beijing's crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong meant the city was no longer sufficiently autonomous enough from the mainland to deserve special trade privileges.

The SAR government said it'd launched proceedings at the World Trade Organisation to challenge the rule.

While Lau said the city’s manufacturers have now changed their labels to "Made in China", he hopes a change at the White House means the arrangement won’t be permanent.

“Because you can see Joe (Biden) plans to push forward anti-Trump policies, (for example) he’s considering to rejoin the WHO… so Joe (Biden) is doing something different from Trump and I believe there is a chance that the ‘Made in Hong Kong’ label will appear in the US again,” he said.

Lau told RTHK's Priscilla Ng that he believes Sino-US relationship will take a turn for the better under the Biden presidency. "We are optimistic that he will not go the same path as Trump."