Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) Certification Act
What changed between versions
The decision-maker for whether HKETO offices merit continued privileges changed from the President to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State must now include a separate determination as part of the existing annual certification under section 205(a)(1)(A) of the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992, rather than the President submitting a standalone certification.
The introduced version included a provision (former subsection 2(d)) allowing the President to unilaterally revoke the extension and application of privileges, exemptions, and immunities to HKETO offices. This independent revocation power was removed entirely.
A provision (former subsection 2(e)) stating that if HKETO offices terminate operations, no additional certifications would be required, was removed.
Section 3 on contracting limitations was substantially simplified. The introduced version required separate certifications to the Secretary of State and GSA Administrator within 100 days for existing agreements and 15 days for new agreements. The engrossed version removes these reporting deadlines and instead makes the non-promotion condition a direct prerequisite for entering into any agreement or partnership.
Throughout the bill, the term 'certification' was replaced with 'determination' in references to the Secretary of State's role, reflecting the shift from a presidential certification to a departmental determination embedded within an existing certification process.
