Hong Kong’s Special Reliance on Trade Under Threat

After China's approval to extend national security laws to Hong Kong and a subsequent warning by the U.S. to react with their own measures – potentially even extending tariffs to the special administrative region - the city stands in danger of losing some of its privileges and its status as a global commercial and financial hub.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said that he would decide on a reply this week, according to the New York Times. Many companies in Hong Kong, among them many Chinese companies, depend on the special administrative region granting them the right to conduct their business with the world freely, which has led to an elevated reliance on trade in the city.

In 2019, trade stood at 353 percent of GDP in Hong Kong, second only to Luxembourg, according to the World Bank. Among the list of the countries most reliant on trade in the world are many small economies, who naturally deal in trade more, but many of whom have also made a virtue out of their special situations. In the case of Hong Kong, this business concept is now under threat.