US: "Hong Kong products are also Chinese"… WTO blocks as "violation of international law"

WTO "No Discrimination Against Companies Among Member States"
US "Right to Respond for National Security"... Rejects WTO Ruling

Geneva World Trade Organization Headquarters. Photo by Reuters·Yonhap News

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has concluded that the United States' requirement to label products from Hong Kong as 'Made in China' violates international trade law.

According to the decision published on the WTO website on the 21st (local time), the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) stated that under Article 9, Paragraph 1 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the United States must not impose labeling requirements that disadvantage companies from other WTO member countries.

It also explained that the United States failed to prove that the measure was taken under an 'emergency situation in international relations,' so the exception clause does not apply. Hong Kong became a Special Administrative Region of China after being handed over from the United Kingdom to China in July 1997.

Chinese authorities suppressed the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests in 2019 and 2020 and implemented the Hong Kong National Security Law in July 2020. Subsequently, in November 2020, U.S. customs authorities enforced a measure requiring Hong Kong products entering the U.S. to be labeled as made in China. Hong Kong challenged this measure as unfair and filed a complaint with the WTO, requesting DSB review in January 2021.

The United States argued that the measure was necessary to protect essential security interests. Adam Hodge, spokesperson for the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), said that China's actions infringing on Hong Kong's autonomy and human rights threaten U.S. security interests, adding, "The WTO does not have the authority to judge a member's ability to respond to what it perceives as threats to its own security." He also stated, "We will not delegate judgments on essential security matters to the WTO."

Hong Kong authorities welcomed the WTO ruling, saying it confirmed Hong Kong's status as a separate customs territory from China. Algernon Yau, Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, said in a statement, "This ruling confirms that the United States violated international trade norms by unilaterally imposing discriminatory and unfair requirements," and asserted, "The United States should not politicize economic and trade issues by suppressing Hong Kong products and companies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.