US-bound HK Goods To Get China Tag From September 25

Goods made in Hong Kong for export to the United States will need to be labelled as made in China after September 25, according to a US government notice posted on Tuesday.

The move follows China's imposition of a national security law on Hong Kong and Washington's decision to end the SAR's special status, escalating Sino-US tensions that were already rising over trade war tariffs and the handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

The latest step will see Hong Kong companies subject to the same trade war tariffs levied on mainland Chinese exporters, should they make products subject to these duties, said the US Customs and Border Protection notice.

It said that 45 days after its publication, goods "must be marked to indicate that their origin is 'China'".

The step was taken after the US determined that Hong Kong is "no longer sufficiently autonomous to justify differential treatment in relation to China".

US President Donald Trump has made tough talk against China a feature of his campaign for re-election in November.

The Trump Administration on Friday imposed sanctions on Chief Executive Carrie Lam and a number of local and mainland officials, accusing them of curtailing political freedoms in the former British colony.

In retaliation, Beijing imposed sanctions on 11 US citizens, including lawmakers from Trump's Republican Party, on Monday.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Monday that companies from China and other countries that do not comply with American accounting standards will be delisted from US stock exchanges from the end of 2021. (Reuters)