US Set to Restore Hong Kong's Special Trade Status, Beijing Says

.

What Happened

China's Ministry of Commerce said on Friday that the United States will not extend a presidential order that ended Hong Kong's special trading status. That order, known as Executive Order 13936, was signed by President Donald Trump in 2020. It has been renewed every year since — but this time, Beijing says, Washington let it lapse.

The White House has not yet confirmed the report. A statement from China's Commerce Ministry said the U.S. will let Executive Order 13936 on Hong Kong Normalization expire, with the order scheduled to sunset on July 14.

Hong Kong's government, whose leadership is selected by a Beijing-controlled committee, also welcomed the news.

.

Why It Matters

For decades, Hong Kong enjoyed trade terms separate from mainland China. This was based on the idea that the city kept a high degree of self-rule after Britain handed it back to China in 1997. Companies could ship sensitive technology to Hong Kong under looser rules than applied to the mainland.

That changed in 2020. Trump revoked the special status after Beijing pushed through a national security law critics say was used to crush Hong Kong's freedoms. Washington stopped defense exports and restricted access to advanced technology, treating Hong Kong the same as mainland China on export controls.

If the order truly lapses, Hong Kong could regain preferential treatment on these export rules. That would be a major shift after six years of tightening restrictions.

.

Part of a Broader Trade Deal

The reported reversal follows months of trade talks between Washington and Beijing, which also led to lower tariffs on both sides. Both governments met at a high level earlier this year to work out trade terms, and Beijing frames the Hong Kong move as part of that broader understanding.

China's Commerce Ministry called it a step toward implementing the agreements reached in those talks and urged Washington to further "normalize" trade ties with the city. For the Trump administration, easing tensions with Beijing over Hong Kong fits into a wider strategy of trading targeted concessions for economic wins — including the tariff cuts already secured.

.

The Human Rights Backdrop

Supporters of the Hong Kong security law say it restored order after the mass protests of 2019. But independent watchdogs describe a very different picture.

Human Rights Watch reported in late June that Hong Kong's leadership has been restructured to answer directly to the Communist Party rather than to the public, six years after the security law was imposed. The organization said Hong Kong's national security regime has erased long-protected rights and cast a troubling shadow over the city's future.

The most recent U.S. State Department assessment of Hong Kong paints a similarly grim picture. It documents surveillance and prosecution of government critics, along with what it calls acts of transnational repression — including a case involving the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in the UK. The same report notes that in June 2025, police arrested or detained at least a dozen people connected to Tiananmen Square commemoration events.

These findings raise a hard question for Washington: does easing trade restrictions reward a government that keeps tightening its grip on civil liberties? Critics of the security law argue that restoring Hong Kong's privileges risks sending the opposite signal — that crackdowns carry no lasting economic cost.

.

What Comes Next

Washington has not officially confirmed the change, and it's unclear exactly which restrictions would be lifted first. The move, if confirmed, would mark one of the most significant U.S. policy reversals on Hong Kong since 2020 — and a clear sign that trade diplomacy with Beijing is taking priority in this phase of the relationship.

.

Sources

1. Reuters – "China says U.S. will restore Hong Kong's special trade status" – https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/china-says-us-will-restore-hong-kongs-special-trade-status-2026-07-17/
2. Bloomberg – "China Signals US Restored Hong Kong Privileges Trump Had Revoked" – https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-17/china-signals-us-restored-hong-kong-privileges-trump-had-revoked
3. Human Rights Watch – "Hong Kong: Beijing Tightens Social Control" (June 29, 2026) – https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/06/29/hong-kong-beijing-tightens-social-control
4. U.S. Department of State – "Hong Kong Policy Act Report 2026" – https://www.state.gov/hong-kong-conditions-report-2026

.