WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration is crafting a range of options to punish China over its tightening grip on Hong Kong, including targeted sanctions, new tariffs and further restrictions on Chinese companies, according to U.S. officials and people familiar with the discussions.
Such moves could mark the opening salvoes of the U.S. response as President Donald Trump weighs how far he is prepared to go after the State Department’s assessment on Wednesday that Hong Kong is no longer autonomous enough from Beijing to deserve special treatment here under U.S. law that helped make it a global financial hub.
Internal U.S. deliberations, unfolding amid increased U.S.-China tensions over the coronavirus pandemic, are continuing and final decisions have yet to be made, the sources said on condition of anonymity.
But they suggested that the severity of U.S. measures could depend, at least in part, on the extent to which China’s Communist Party rulers implement planned national security rules in the former British colony. Beijing says there is no threat to Hong Kong’s high degree of au