Swedish Textile Consultations State of the Market
Any information about
(a)
the state of the Swedish textile industry,
(b)
the pattern of trading in Sweden,
that appears relevant to the Swedish request for restraint would be helpful to London and Hong Kong in formulating negotiating instructions and tactics for the substantive consultations. We should therefore be grateful if any information obtained could be passed urgently to FCO (Hong Kong Department), BOT (CRE) and Hong Kong (Commerce & Industry Department).
2.
3.
Examples :-
(a) Newspaper articles,
(૧)
(c)
Public statements by Government officials, trade organisations, industrialists, traders,
Reports of company meetings,
indicating how the textile/garment indus try is faring and, if it is suffering damage, what form this takes, e.g.
(i) reduced production,
(ii) unemployment,
(iii) lower profits,
and the real causes thereof e.g. 'rationalisation', changes in consumer demand, imports from sources other than Hong Kong, imports from Hong Kong.
It would also be useful to know in what sectors of the retail market Hong Kong goods (those on which restraint is now requested) are competing. E.G., are Hong Kong products really competing with Swedish ones or are they meeting a demand for lower-priced goods that Swedish industry does not try to or cannot meet? Do Hong Kong goods sell in the best shops or only in the cheap ones?
4.
For example, in Britain and Switzerland the shops are selling ski-ing anoraks of fashionable design ('body-hugging', belted) that are probably not yet produced in Hong Kong. The 'traditional' anorak (loose-fitting) still made in Hong Kong cannot compete in this field. No skier will buy them now and it is suspected that they are being sold as everyday outerwear. What is the pattern in Sweden?
London,
7 January, 1969.