‘More short-term measures needed to help Hong Kong SMEs amid Trump tariffs’

Government adviser calls on banks to extend loan repayment terms by additional 12 months, as business leader urges ‘extraordinary intervention’

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A business leader has said government measures are failing to address short-term concerns amid the trade war. Photo: Eugene Lee

Published: 3:14pm, 9 Apr 2025Updated: 3:35pm, 9 Apr 2025

More proactive measures are needed to help Hong Kong’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) weather sweeping US tariffs, such as extending loan repayment terms by an additional 12 months to help ease liquidity issues, a top government adviser and a business leader have said.

Wednesday’s call to action came a day after the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and local banks issued a joint statement outlining support measures for SMEs, which included the ongoing implementation of initiatives from last year designed to assist with the financing, upgrading and transformation of such businesses.

Banks also committed to providing flexible credit relief, such as adaptable repayment schedules and the option to defer payments, and pledged to offer more specific assistance to various sectors facing cash-flow challenges due to trade tensions.

But Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung, a lawmaker and member of the Executive Council, the city’s key decision-making body, said that the policies did not go far enough.

“I am really asking the banks here to help out companies that are facing difficulties in the short term,” he told a radio show, calling for more proactive measures to address the immediate cash flow crisis among such companies.

He described United States President Donald Trump’s tariffs as “bullying behaviour” that was directly harming Hong Kong exporters and manufacturers dealing with the American market.

The US also plans to apply an additional 50 per cent tariff on Chinese imports, pushing the total levy on many goods up to 104 per cent amid the escalating global trade war.