Yahoo Finance on 23.5.2020 reported the following
Explainer: How ending Hong Kong's 'special status' could
affect U.S. companies
Reuters Reuters 11 hours ago
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New Chinese national security
restrictions imposed on Hong Kong could draw a U.S. revocation of the former
British colony's "special status" under U.S. law, a move that would
have far-reaching trade and investment implications.
U.S. businesses oppose to any change in Washington's
recognition of Hong Kong as a sufficiently autonomous city, where major U.S.
companies enjoy access to China and Southeast Asia, and where bilateral trade
flourishes across various parts of the economy, from wine to financial
services.
A new U.S. law requires the State Department to certify at
least annually that Hong Kong, which experienced widespread protests last year
over China's extradition plans, retains enough autonomy to justify favorable
U.S. trading terms. President Donald Trump warned on Thursday that Washington
could react "very strongly" to China's new restrictions.
Here is a look at some of the consequences of a change in
that status.
CORPORATE HEADACHES
A revocation of the special status would cause problems for
the more than 1,300 American companies with business operations in Hong Kong,
including nearly every major U.S. financial firm. The State Department said
85,000 U.S. citizens lived in Hong Kong in 2018.
Visa-free travel access to Hong Kong could revert to strict
Chinese visa rules, impeding business travel and work visa approvals.
As of 2018, the stock of U.S. foreign direct investment in
Hong Kong stood at $82.5 billion (£67.76 billion), an increase of $1.2 billion
that year, according to U.S. Commerce Department data. Hong Kong's investment
in the United States rose $3.5 billion in 2018 to $16.9 billion.
Hong Kong's autonomy, civil
liberties, rule of law and access to China make it attractive to international
companies, and a change in that status could push some U.S. firms into costly
moves elsewhere in the region.
"Numerous
American companies invest in Hong Kong because of its special status, its
geographic location and market-based economic system," the U.S.-China
Business Council said in a statement. "Any change to this status quo would
irreparably damage American global business interests."
TRADE
Some $67 billion in annual Hong Kong-U.S. trade of goods and
services could be put at risk as Hong Kong would lose its preferential lower
U.S. tariff rate.
Hong Kong is treated separately from mainland China's more
managed economy, and its exports to the United States are treated differently.
Hong Kong has a zero tariff rate on imports of U.S. goods, which also could be
at risk.
Hong Kong was the source of the largest bilateral U.S. goods
trade surplus last year, at $26.1 billion, based on U.S. Census Bureau data.
According to Hong Kong's Trade and Industry Department, the
former British colony in 2018 was the United States' third-largest export
market for wine, its fourth-largest for beef and seventh-largest for all
agricultural products.
BROADER U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS
A U.S. revocation of Hong Kong's special status would be
viewed by Beijing as interfering with its sovereignty, and China has previously
threatened to "take strong countermeasures."
Eswar Prasad, a trade professor at Cornell University and a
former head of the International Monetary Fund's China department, said Hong
Kong is a "hot-button" economic and political issue for China, much
like U.S. sanctions on Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.
A precarious U.S.-China trade truce,
already strained by Trump's anger at China over the coronavirus pandemic and a
slow start to Beijing's purchases under the Phase 1 trade deal between the two countries
could collapse into new tariffs and counter-sanctions, he said.
The United States
also maintains export control offices and academic exchanges in Hong Kong
separate from mainland China.
(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Paul Simao)
Translation
華盛頓（路透社）-
中國對香港實施的新國家安全限制可能會導至美國根據本國法律撤銷對前英國殖民地的“特殊地位”，此舉將對貿易和投資產生深遠影響。
美國企業反對華盛頓更改承認香港是一個充分自治的城市。美國的主要公司在這裡享有進入中國和東南亞的通道，從葡萄酒到金融服務,
雙邊貿易在整個經濟的各個方面都蓬勃發展。
美國的一項新法律要求美國國務院至少每年去證明香港, 在經歷去年中國引渡計劃上發生過廣泛抗議後,
仍然保留了足夠的自治權，可以享有美國有利的貿易條件。唐納德·特朗普總統週四警告說，華盛頓可能對中國的新安法限製,做出“非常強烈的反應”。
以下是更改該狀態的一些後果。
企業頭痛
撤銷特殊地位將對在香港經營業務的1300多家美國公司造成問題，其中幾乎包括所有主要的美國金融公司。美國國務院表示，2018年有85,000名美國公民在香港居住。
赴香港免簽證旅行可能會轉換為嚴格的中國簽證規定，從而阻礙商務旅行和工作簽證的批准。
根據美國商務部的數據，截至2018年，美國在香港的外國直接投資量為825億美元（677.6億英鎊），當年增加了12億美元。香港在美國的投資在2018年增加了35億美元，達到169億美元。
香港的自治，公民自由，法治和進入中國的機會使其對國際公司具有吸引力，而這種地位的改變可能會促使在該地的一些美國公司進行遷離至該地區其他方的昂貴行動。
美中貿易委員會在一份聲明中說：“許多美國公司因香港特殊的地位，地理位置和基於市場的經濟體制而在香港投資。” “改變這種現狀將無可挽回地損害美國的全球商業利益。”
貿易
因為香港將失去其優惠的較低的美國關稅稅率,美國與香港地區之间每年約670億美元商品和服務貿易可能會面臨風險。
相比对有國家管控經濟的中國大陸,
香港是被分開對待，它對美國的出口待遇也有所區別。香港對美國商品的進口關稅稅率為零，這也可能會面臨風險。
根據美國人口普查局的數據，香港是去年美國雙邊貿易順差最大的來源，為261億美元。
根據香港貿易和工業部的數據，前英國殖民地是美國葡萄酒2018年的第三大出口市場，是牛肉的第四大市場和所有農產品的第七大出口市場。
泛美中關係
北京对美國撤回香港的特殊地位會視作干擾其主權，而中國之前曾威脅要“採取強有力的對策”。
在康奈爾大學（Cornell
University）的貿易教授，亦是國際貨幣基金組織（IMF）中國部門前負責人埃斯瓦爾·普拉薩德（Eswar
Prasad）表示，香港是中國的經濟和政治的“緊要關頭”問題，就像美國對中國電信巨頭華為技術有限公司的製裁一樣。 。
他說，不穩定的中美貿易休戰已經因特朗普對中國冠狀病毒大流行的憤怒而变得緊張，亦因為兩國之間基於第一階段貿易協議而需要北京購買美國貨物的動行進行得緩慢，而可能會陷入新關稅和反制裁之中。
美國還在香港設有與中國大陸分開的出口管制辦公室和學術交流機構。
So, the above
report has listed out some of the trading relation between the US and Hong
Kong. I think trading is an activity that benefits both parties.But in modern world history there were occasions that the appeals
of trading benefits were ignored and became secondary. For example, financial benefits
gave way to political interests and ideology during the Cold War which ended in
1989. For over 50 years, political interests came to the forefront among the
major great powers and global trading had been hindered. It seems that the
world is edging towards to another Cold War.
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