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HONG KONG / CANADA
M: Carter
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I reported of the meeting w Mr. Wilford and
rally to the Secretary laat night the outcome ich I held with the long Kong representativos - r. Carter yesterday afternoon. The purpose of this minute i to put on record what I told him. The easiest way to do this 1, perhaps to take the eleven points listed in my Minute of September 3rd, and set out the llong Kong views on each.
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(1)
(2)
Mr. Jordan made two main points here. The first wes that Mr. Stons had already been told, when he visited Hong Kong this year, that if he wished to raise with the Hong Kong Government whatever case there night be for looking et individual products in the non- cotton textile sector on a case-by-case and fibre- by-fibre basis, the Hong Kong Government would of course be willing to listen to what he had to say. His second point was that the Federal Canadian Govern- ment were under strong pressure to revise their existing textile policy. If Hong Kong and certain other countries were to refuse point-blank to accept restraints on individual items, there was a consider- able risk that Canada would line up with the U.S. in secking general restraints over the whole non-cotton textile sector. This view had been put strongly to Mr. Jordan by Mr. Howarth at their last meeting in Ottawa. The extension of existing restraints, therefore, on the polyester cotton items would not give the U.S. any additional lever for demanding restraints.
Mr. Jordan pointed out that exports of certain Japanese non-cotton textile products were already under restraint to Canada. There could be no ques- tion, therefore, that an extended restraint agreement between Canada and Hong Kong would have any effect on the Japanese/U.K. "alliance" in opposing the proposi- tions of Mr. Stan's. In any event, the Japanese were highly experienced operators in this field and in Mr. Jordan's view would eventually 'give a little' if they felt that the alternative for their trade would be worse.
(3) The timing is not the fault of Hong Kong since the
present issue was bour.1 to come up automatically when the existing restraint period expired.
(4) No comment.
(5) Mr. Jordan said that he had new information from
Hong Kong, It now seemed that Mr. Howarth (who is the Canadian Jordan) is likely to remain in Hong Kong until about the 9th of September and would probably then go on to China for his wheat talks. It is always difficult to make any estimate of the time thie would take, but it is reasonable to suppose that he will be back in Hong Kong about the 22nd September. The Hong Kong information was that he had already got revised instructiona on polynosic. It would naturally irritate the Canadians if they were asked to agree to negotiations in Ottawa during a period when their main negotiator was in the Far Eaat. Mr. Jordan
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