Reference
F3G
A.. Stewart-
Swedish restrictions on imports from Hong Kong
We shall also need to discuss at this afternoon's meeting on the Swedish/Hong Kong negotiations the latest telegrams from Ottowa concerning the Canadian request that Hong Kong should restrict exports to Canada of polyester-polynosic shirts. This raises much the same issues as the Swedish request and causes us similar concern.
2.
We shall be discussing the Swedish figures this afternoon, but I am surprised that you should think that what Mr. Nehmer has said is evidence. Of course, Mr. Nehmer is not looking for voluntary restraints on one or two items. What he wants is control across the whole field though in fact the American problem is confined to only two items, shirts and sweaters. You may remember that it was suggested that we should revise the material we prepared for Mr. Stans visit and after a lot of work on the figures we are just about to issue a draft of a "White Paper" which it was thought that we might give to the Americans exposing the weakness of their case, which in my view shows very clearly that the American problem ought to be dealt with under Article XIX on a case by case basis. The Americans want the L.T.A. and nothing but the L.T.A. and I am quite sure that we would want to go to Ministers before agreeing to any proposition which would facilitate their objective in this matter.
3. I see that CRE1 is still taking the view that it is the percentage of imports that matters, not the degree of injury to the domestic industry. I have not yet had time to consult Mr. Carey about this, but I am sure that we would want to fight this one up to the top. We did not fight it in March, because the situation had not deteriorated to anything like the present extent.
S. STEWART, Ind. 1,
3rd June, 1969.
Mr. 0.H. Kemmis (CRE.1)
cc. Mr. R. Goldsmith (CRE1),
妒
Mr. F. Carey (1.1).
Mr. S. Carter (FCO),
F:
Mr. Whitehead (FCO),
Mr. Toms (CRE2)
Miss Welch (1.1).
VED IN Y No.51 JUN 1969
NICK6/571/1