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21. The question of tariffs is of course bound to arise in the negotiations, since the Six will certainly want to know
how we propose to apply the common external tariff to our trade with Hong Kong generally. The question of quantitative
restrictions which is of much greater importance to
Hong Kong may not arise quite so automatically. In the
absence of any agreement on a common commercial policy within the Community, quantitative restrictions are a
matter for individual Member States, although they do in practice consult the European Commission in advance of
making any new decisions. There is thus no reason why we should ourselves raise the question of quantitative
restrictions on Hong Kong cotton textiles with the Six, and it would probably be tactically advantageous to leave
it for them to raise the matter with us if they wish.
22. Against this backgrourid, we shall not be able to say
very much more to the Hong Kong Delegation at the next
round of consultations; but we could perhaps expand a little
on what we said last time as follows. We could take formal
note of their wish that Hong Kong's present access rights
to the markets of the U.K, and the Six should be unimpaired
19 by British entry into the Community (paragraph (a) above);
but we must not of course imply that this is an essential
Commonwealth interest which has to be safeguarded. AB
interes
19
regards paragraph (b), we should press the Hong Kong
officials for their assessment of how they think the
we
common external tariff will bear on different categories of
textile exports. As regards (c) and (d) of paragraph
could press rather more strongly on Hong Kong officials the
idea that the best line in negotiations with the Six would be
to say nothing at all about Hong Kong's textile exports to us.
If Hong Kong thinking has continued to develop on the same
lines as before, they are likely to be sympathetic to this approach.
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