Hong Kong bill being reviewed by White House laywers: Navarro
President Trump has not publicly signaled if he will sign it.
White House lawyers are reviewing the Hong Kong bill that Congress approved last week, U.S. trade adviser Peter Navarro said, as President Trump has not publicly signaled if he will sign it.
"It's going through the process. It has to clear the White House Legal Counsel," Navarro told FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo on "Sunday Morning Futures." "The president was quite eloquent on Friday about the situation. ... So let's see what happens. It's the president's decision."
The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act would allow the U.S. government to impose economic sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials responsible for human rights violations and require an annual review of the favorable trade status that Washington grants Hong Kong.
People line up to vote outside of a polling place in Hong Kong, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
Trump was non-committal on whether he would sign the bill in a Friday "FOX & Friends" interview, amid widespread expectation around Washington that he will.
"I stand with Hong Kong, I stand with freedom, I stand with all of the things that we want to do," Trump said. "But we also are in the process of making the largest trade deal in history and if we could do that, that would be great."
China has promised to retaliate in some way if Trump supports the bill.
SENATE PASSES BILL TO SUPPORT HUMAN RIGHTS IN HONG KONG
The bill's approval comes after months of often-violent civil unrest in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory, with pro-democracy demonstrators squaring off against the police.
The House voted 417-1 in favor of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, and the Senate passed it unanimously.
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