Since 2020, it has not been possible to regard Hong Kong as somehow politically distinct from the mainland. So it’s good that the United States is not revoking its revocation of Hong Kong’s special trading status. But why is the U.S. lifting “partial sanctions” targeting the Hong Kong government (Associated Press, July 17, 2026)?
The United States said Saturday it did not renew a national emergency declaration over Hong Kong, leading to the lifting of partial sanctions, but it said an executive order that revoked Hong Kong’s special trading status remains in place….
[Despite claims by China of U.S. intentions,] a statement from a State Department spokesperson sent to the AP said that U.S. President Donald Trump “allowed the national emergency to end, but Executive Order 13936 [issued July 14, 2020] otherwise remains in effect.”
As the order states, Hong Kong is no longer sufficiently autonomous to justify differential treatment in relation to mainland China under certain laws and provisions, it said.
Some Hong Kong officials sanctioned under the now-lapsed declaration of national emergency will still be sanctioned.
“The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a statement Friday that the national emergency declared in the executive order had expired and that it delisted people who were sanctioned under the order. But it said people who remain sanctioned under the Hong Kong Autonomy Act of 2020 have been added to a different sanction list.”
Hong Kong boss John Lee and the previous occupant of his post, Carrie Lam, are among those on the second list.
The government seems to regard letting the emergency declaration lapse as a matter of mere housekeeping. A Treasury spokesman told AP that the nonrenewal “is consistent with sanctions modernization efforts that streamline sanctions for greater efficiency and effectiveness, including by ensuring our sanctions are not duplicative.”
Let us be on the lookout for evidence of the promised greater effectiveness.
Also see:
Govinfo.gov: “Executive Order 13936—The President’s Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization” (July 14, 2020)
