Trump Administration Mandates That Hong Kong Exports Have ‘Made In China’ Label

The Trump administration is mandating that goods produced in and exported from Hong Kong be labeled as “Made in China.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection published a notice Tuesday stating that goods exported from Hong Kong must now be labeled as “Made in China” rather than “Made in Hong Kong.”

The effective date of the labeling will be September 25 to afford manufacturers a 45-day grace period to ensure these goods are labeled properly, according to the guidance document.

The Customs and Border Protection guidance document revokes a section of the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 at the direction of President Donald Trump’s July 14 executive order. The guidance document states that “imported goods produced in Hong Kong… may no longer be marked to indicate ‘Hong Kong’ as their origin, but must be marked to indicate ‘China.’”

The “Made in China” label follows China’s national security law regarding the formerly semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong. The law imposed measures on the citizens of Hong Kong that critics say curtail their freedoms because it enables, among other things, authorities to wiretap suspects and even hold trials behind closed doors, according to BBC News.

Trump’s July executive order reorients U.S.-Hong Kong relations given China’s stricter control over the area. The order ends preferential treatment for Hong Kong passport holders, revokes license exceptions for exports to Hong Kong, ends joint police training between the U.S. and Hong Kong, and terminates an earth sciences collaboration with Hong Kong scientific institutions.

Tensions between the United States and China have increased in recent months.

The U.S. ordered the shutdown of the Chinese consulate in Houston on July 24, and China responded by ordering the closure of a U.S. consulate in Chengdu, CNN reported. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin called the United States’ initial move a violation of the “basic norms governing international relations,” according to a transcript of his July 24 press briefing.

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The U.S. also imposed sanctions on July 27 on Chinese officials in response to their Hong Kong national security law, according to BBC News. The Chinese responded in kind with their own sanctions against U.S. officials, including Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri, CNBC reported.