Executive Order 13936 is dead. The Trump-era order that stripped Hong Kong of its preferential trade status, effectively treating the semi-autonomous territory the same as mainland China, quietly expired on July 14, 2026, after neither the White House nor Congress moved to extend it.
China’s Ministry of Commerce confirmed the development on July 17, calling it an important step toward improving bilateral ties. The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) followed up by announcing it would review its guidance on Hong Kong-related sanctions.
What actually happened
In 2020, then-President Trump signed Executive Order 13936 in response to Beijing’s imposition of a national security law on Hong Kong. The law, critics argued, effectively dismantled the “one country, two systems” framework that had governed the territory since the 1997 handover from Britain.
The executive order revoked Hong Kong’s special trade privileges under US law, suspended extradition treaties, and imposed sanctions on individuals and entities deemed responsible for eroding the city’s autonomy.
