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WTO complaint possible if US imposes heavy tariffs on Hong Kong aluminium imports
City’s trade minister says such duties should be proportionate and reasonable
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A formal complaint at the World Trade Organisation would be considered if the US carried out heavy tariffs on aluminium imports from mainland China and Hong Kong, the city’s trade minister revealed on Monday.
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“Tariffs should be proportionate and reasonable, even when citing national security,” Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah said on a radio programme. “We reserve the right to lodge a formal complaint when necessary.”
Yau warned that Hong Kong would suffer losses if the mainland and the US were entangled in trade disputes.
US President Donald Trump last week said he would sign off this week on a plan to impose a 23.6 per cent tariff on aluminium products from Hong Kong and the mainland as well as Russia, Venezuela and Vietnam. Trump argued the US was losing “many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with” and that his administration needed to protect American workers and industry.
The US Department of Commerce claimed that a US$55 million (HK$430.6 million) trade deficit from aluminium products existed between Washington and Hong Kong from business conducted during January to October last year. It said the imbalance had negatively affected the economic welfare of aluminium-related industries in the US and threatened national security.
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