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Nevertheless, loss of preference in Britain and the creation
of reverse preferences in favour of the Six must have some
adverse effects on the volume and, probably more important,
the profitability, of Hong Kong's sales to Britain. They
were also concerned lest, under some parts of a common
commercial policy to be adopted by the Community some time in
the future, Britain might be required to impose or strengthen
quantitative restrictions on imports from Hong Kong,
particularly of cotton textiles.
13.
However, the Hong Kong Government did not dissent from
that any adverse effects on
our own tentative conclusions:
Hong Kong would be uncomfortable rather than disastrous;
that in view of the Community's attitude to Hong Kong in the
previous negotiations, which is echoed in the Commission's
Report, it would be unrealistic to expect to obtain more for
Hong Kong than an adequate transitional period for the
application of the Community's common tariff to her exports
to Britain, except at the cost of counter-concessions to the
Six which would leave the balance of the agreement unfavourable;
and that in these circumstances it might be preferable not
to seek more than transitional arrangements. The final
Hong Kong position was that it was for the British Government
to decide what safeguards should be sought for Hong Kong,
and that if we took the view that the right course was not to
make an opening bid for anything more than transitional
arrangements, they would accept this.
14. The one positive request that the Hong Kong Government
made was that on joining the Community Britain should make
a formal declaration of her continuing responsibility for
the welfare of her dependent territories. (It was agreed
that to single out Hong Kong might both provoke the Six and
offend the other dependent territories). The Hong Kong
representatives favoured a formal document annexed to the
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