Commissioner of Customs and Excise Chan Tsz-tat said on Tuesday free trade and globalisation are losing momentum in the face of a wave of US tariffs.

Chan was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of an e-commerce conference in Tsim Sha Tsui co-hosted by the Customs and Excise Department and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Secretariat.

He said global tariffs imposed by the United States had brought significant challenges and uncertainty to international trade but that Hong Kong would support free trade by sticking to its zero-tariffs regime on imports.

The customs chief urged trade partners in the Asia-Pacific region to work together to protect multilateralism.

“In these challenging times, we call on our Asia-Pacific partners to stand united, promote multilateral collaboration and strengthen trust between the public and private sectors,” Chan said.

“We must work together to develop innovative and forward-looking solutions that cater for the benefits of all members and stakeholders in the supply chain, ensuring that e-commerce continues to contribute to global prosperity in a safe, secure and efficient manner.”

Speaking after the opening ceremony, Chan said the tariffs are not affecting Customs’ works at border control points.

For his part, Cuong Ba Tran, the assistant director and head of the Asean Secretariat’s trade facilitation division, said experts from the World Customs Organization and e-commerce giants such as DHL and Alibaba have joined the three-day conference.

He said the conference provides good opportunities for Asean countries to gain expertise and experiences from Hong Kong Customs and experts on e-commerce.