Hong Kong's officials argued the United States government's ban on labelling products exported from Hong Kong as "made in Hong Kong" was "unreasonable", and added that only minor effects would cause on the city's economy.

The World Trade Organisation judged the U.S. ban, which started two years ago, that all products exported from Hong Kong must no longer be marked as "Hong Kong" but "China" as "flouting international trade rules".

However, the U.S. dismissed the decision and expressed no willingness to retract the ban.

"We don't agree on the act of the U.S. government setting embarrassment deliberately," said Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po in a press conference on Thursday, "we don't think the act would have a significant impact on Hong Kong."

"Hong Kong's economic structure is tertiary industry-oriented [rather than import and export]. The products we export mainly come from mainland China through Hong Kong and only take a minor percentage of products which are manufactured in Hong Kong," he said.

The value of goods made in Hong Kong and exported to the U.S. was about HK$7.4 billion, accounting for 0.1 percent of the total exports of Hong Kong, said Algernon Yau Ying-wah, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, in a media session today.

"The U.S. should respect the status of Hong Kong, a separate customs territory, and not create unnecessary trouble," he said.

Yau added that the Hong Kong government may seek further steps, depending on whether the U.S. may seek an appeal during the 60-day appeal period of the WTO's dispute settlement procedure.

"The U.S. is taking Hong Kong as the hostage of U.S.-Sino relations," said Dr. Dennis Ng Wang-pun, honorary president of the Chinese Manufacturers' Association.

The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce welcomes the World Trade Organization's ruling and urges the U.S. to respect Hong Kong's independent customs status and the rules-based international trade system which complies with the WTO.

US ban on 'Hong Kong-made' label sees little effect: officials