Granted, but that doesn't really affect my point since it doesn't contradict it (you're not going to try to claim that a duty on liquors sustains their economy, are you?). I said Hong Kong doesn't have "higher tariffs and duties" and they don't:
Hong Kong is basically duty-free. The World Trade Organization reports that Hong Kong's weighted average tariff rate in 2003 (the most recent year for which WTO data are available) was 0 percent. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, "Non-tariff barriers such as labeling requirements, standards, etc. are minimal." Based on the revised trade factor methodology, Hong Kong's trade policy score is unchanged.
http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/country.cfm?id=HongKong
Now the fact that Hong Kong isn't a country, is one reason they can reduce tariffs. Generally speaking cities or regions don't collect tariffs, they do not have the governmental structures and authorities to do so, nations do. Hong Kong is a special administrative region for China and China does collect tariffs. China as a nation would never give up tariffs, but they may modify their rules, as they have done for special administrative regions. A nation, like the United States, cannot give up tariffs without extreme harm to the domestic economy.
Why would a nation want to apply tariffs? Have you considered the reasons?