Skip to content

Title 22 — Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Chapter 66 — United States-Hong Kong Policy

§ 5713. Commerce between United States and Hong Kong

Statutory text

It is the sense of the Congress that the following, which are based in part on the relevant provisions of the Joint Declaration, are and should continue after , to be the policy of the United States with respect to commerce between the United States and Hong Kong:

(1)

The United States should seek to maintain and expand economic and trade relations with Hong Kong and should continue to treat Hong Kong as a separate territory in economic and trade matters, such as import quotas and certificates of origin.

(2)

The United States should continue to negotiate directly with Hong Kong to conclude bilateral economic agreements.

(3)

The United States should continue to treat Hong Kong as a territory which is fully autonomous from the United Kingdom and, after , should treat Hong Kong as a territory which is fully autonomous from the People’s Republic of China with respect to economic and trade matters.

(4)

The United States should continue to grant the products of Hong Kong nondiscriminatory trade treatment by virtue of Hong Kong’s membership in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

(5)

The United States should recognize certificates of origin for manufactured goods issued by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

(6)

The United States should continue to allow the United States dollar to be freely exchanged with the Hong Kong dollar.

(7)

United States businesses should be encouraged to continue to operate in Hong Kong, in accordance with applicable United States and Hong Kong law.

(8)

The United States should continue to support access by Hong Kong to sensitive technologies controlled under the agreement of the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls (commonly referred to as “COCOM”) for so long as the United States is satisfied that such technologies are protected from improper use or export.

(9)

The United States should encourage Hong Kong to continue its efforts to develop a framework which provides adequate protection for intellectual property rights.

(10)

The United States should negotiate a bilateral investment treaty directly with Hong Kong, in consultation with the Government of the People’s Republic of China.

(11)

The change in the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong should not affect ownership in any property, tangible or intangible, held in the United States by any Hong Kong person.

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

  1. United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992

    Pub. L. 102–383 title I § 103 · 106 Stat. 1448

    Enacted · 22 U.S.C. § 5713

    Pub. L. 102–383, title I, § 103, Oct. 5, 1992, 106 Stat. 1450

    Source evidence

    Code source credit
    Pub. L. 102–383, title I, § 103, Oct. 5, 1992, 106 Stat. 1450

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    SEC. 103. COMMERCE BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND HONG KONG. It is the sense of the Congress that the following, which are based in part on the relevant provisions of the Joint Declaration, are and should continue after June 30, 1997, to be the policy of the United States with respect to commerce between the United States and Hong Kong: (1) The United States should seek to maintain and expand economic and trade relations with Hong Kong and should continue to treat Hong Kong as a separate territory in economic and trade matters, such as import quotas and certificates of origin. (2) The United States should continue to negotiate directly with Hong Kong to conclude bilateral economic agreements. (3) The United States should continue to treat Hong Kong as a territory which is fully autonomous from the United Kingdom and, after June 30, 1997, should treat Hong’ Kong as a territory which is fully autonomous from the People’s Republic of China with respect to economic and trade matters. (4) The United States should continue to grant the products of Hong Kong nondiscriminatory trade treatment (commonly referred to as “most-favored-nation status”) by virtue of Hong Kong’s membership in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. (5) The United States should recognize certificates of origin for manufactured goods issued by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. (6) The United States should continue to allow the United States dollar to be freely exchanged with the Hong Kong dollar. (7) United States businesses should be encouraged to continue to operate in Hong Kong, in accordance with applicable United States and Hong Kong law. (8) The United States should continue to support access by Hong Kong to sensitive technologies controlled under the agreement of the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls (commonly referred to as “COCOM”) for so long as the United States is satisfied that such technologies are protected from improper use or export. (9) The United States should encourage Hong Kong to continue its efforts to develop a framework which provides adequate protection for intellectual property rights. (10) The United States should negotiate a bilateral investment treaty directly with Hong Kong, in consultation with the Government of the People’s Republic of China. (11) The change in the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong should not affect ownership in any property, tangible or intangible, held in the United States by any Hong Kong person.

  2. Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998

    Pub. L. 105–206 title V § 5003(b)(7) · 112 Stat. 685

    Struck · 22 U.S.C. § 5713(4)

    Pub. L. 105–206 struck out “(commonly referred to as ‘most-favored-nation status’)” after “nondiscriminatory trade treatment”

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Par. (4). Pub. L. 105–206 struck out “(commonly referred to as ‘most-favored-nation status’)” after “nondiscriminatory trade treatment”.

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    (7) United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992.— Section 103(4) of the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 (22 U.S.C. 5713(4)) is amended by striking “(commonly referred to as ‘most-favored-nation status’)”.

2 of 2 references resolved to an enrolled provision

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1998—Par. (4). Pub. L. 105–206 struck out “(commonly referred to as ‘most-favored-nation status’)” after “nondiscriminatory trade treatment”.

Credits

1992–1998 · 2 acts
  1. 1992Pub. L. 102–383, title I, § 103, , 106 Stat. 1450
  2. 1998Pub. L. 105–206, title V, § 5003(b)(7), , 112 Stat. 790.
Show as published

(Pub. L. 102–383, title I, § 103, , 106 Stat. 1450; Pub. L. 105–206, title V, § 5003(b)(7), , 112 Stat. 790.)

Parsed from the official OLRC USLM XML in data/usc_all/usc22.xml · release point 119-108 · OLRC build 2026-09-09

USLM identifier /us/usc/t22/s5713