Steven Turner
President Trump announced Tuesday he has signed legislation to impose sanctions on China in response to its interference with Hong Kong’s autonomy. He also signed an executive order ending the preferential treatment that Hong Kong has enjoyed. CNBC’s Eunice Yoon reports. For access to live and exclusive video from CNBC subscribe to CNBC PRO: https://cnb.cx/2NGeIvi
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he signed legislation to impose sanctions on China in response to its interference with Hong Kong’s autonomy.
Trump also said that he signed an executive order ending the preferential treatment that Hong Kong has long enjoyed.
“Hong Kong will now be treated the same as mainland China,” Trump said during a lengthy speech in the White House Rose Garden that quickly drifted away from that legislation to touch on a variety of campaign issues.
“No special privileges, no special economic treatment and no export of sensitive technologies. In addition to that, as you know, we are placing massive tariffs and have placed very large tariffs on China.”
China’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday Beijing will impose retaliatory sanctions against U.S. individuals and entities in response to the law targeting banks, though the statement released through state media did not reference the executive order.
“Hong Kong affairs are purely China’s internal affairs and no foreign country has the right to interfere,” the ministry said.
The law, dubbed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, would slap mandatory sanctions on Chinese officials and companies that helped back Beijing’s imposition of a security law that clamps down on dissent in Hong Kong. The sanctions bill passed both houses of Congress earlier this month.
The Trump administration has been openly critical of Beijing’s sweeping national security law aimed at limiting Hong Kong’s autonomy and banning literature critical of the Chinese Communist Party.
Earlier this month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described the new law as an “Orwellian move” and an assault “on the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong.”
The security law is the latest issue to ratchet up tensions relations between Washington and Beijing. The Trump administration has previously blamed China for the unfolding health crisis caused by the coronavirus, and it has criticized Beijing for its illegal territorial claims in the South China Sea.
The world’s two largest economies are also struggling to mend trade relations, with intellectual property theft proving to be a major sticking point.
Trump began his speech in the Rose Garden focused on targeting China’s actions, but quickly pivoted to lash out at an array of his political opponents – especially presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Biden’s “entire career has been a gift to the Chinese Communist Party,” Trump said, adding that “it’s been devastating for the American worker.”
“Biden expressed more fawning praise about China on an ordinary day than about America,” Trump claimed. He quoted Biden saying recently that the U.S. has “never lived up to” its founding ideals.
Trump also spent a significant chunk of the speech railing against what seemed to be the bulk of Biden’s campaign platform. The president attacked Biden on issues including immigration, energy policy, school choice and military funding, among others.
“There’s never been a time when the two candidates were so different,” Trump said. Trump also said he will be signing a “very powerful” merit-based immigration act, without providing specific details. The Supreme Court recently ruled against Trump over his effort to end the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program, known as DACA, which shielded hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation and allowed them to receive work permits.
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