The United States has downgraded Hong Kong to the lowest tier in its annual human trafficking report, citing shortcomings in prosecutions and victim identification, an assessment the city’s government rejected as “entirely unfounded”. The US State Department’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, released on Thursday, moved Hong Kong from the Tier 2 Watch List, where it had been listed for two consecutive years, to Tier 3. The Hong Kong government rejected the downgrade in a statement issued early on Friday, calling the rating “entirely unfounded” and “a blatant attempt to tarnish Hong Kong’s sterling reputation”.