Hong Kong leader says city will sign more free trade pacts amid 'ruthless' US tariffs

The Star

Hong Kong leader John Lee said on Tuesday (April 8) the city would sign more free trade pacts to diversify its risk amid a global trade war triggered by what he called "ruthless" U.S. tariffs that he said were disrupting the world economic and trade order.  The latest additional U.S. tariffs of 34 percent that were imposed on China also apply to Hong Kong.   This coupled with an earlier 20 percent tariff, means combined U.S. tariffs on Hong Kong goods are now 54 percent, Lee said.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00Together with the 20% tariff announced earlier, the total tariff imposed on Hong Kong products is up to 54%.

00:12The U.S. no longer adheres to free trade, arbitrarily undermining the internationally established rules of world trade,

00:21and ruthless behavior damages global and multilateral trade.

00:27The reckless imposition of tariffs affects many countries and regions around the world,

00:33with huge tax rate increases and covering a wide range of goods disrupting the world economic and trade order,

00:41bringing great risks and uncertainties to the world.

00:45In response to U.S. imposition of tariffs, the governments will strengthen strategy in seven areas.

00:54First, we shall fully seize the opportunities in our country, China's development, and actively integrate international development.

01:04Second, we shall strengthen international exchanges and deepen regional ties and cooperation.

01:10We shall sign more free trade agreements with countries and economies.

01:14Today, Hong Kong's FTA is already covering 20 economies.

01:18We are currently negotiating investment agreements with Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Asia, and Peru.

01:25We will continue to push for Hong Kong's early accession to RCEP to deepen regional cooperation.

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