CONFIDENTIAL
349
To:
Director of Commerce & Industry, Hong Kong.
From: Counsellor (Hong Kong Affairs), Geneva.
Memorandum No. 175.
File No. GVA/10/8/1.
Date: 8 December 1970.
My Memo No. 173.
O.E.C.D.
TRADE COMMITTEE
DISCUSSION ON BENEFICIARIES
Discussion, both at the working lunch of Heads of Delegation and afterwards in the Committee, revealed that the Trade Committee was still not in a position to deal with the question of beneficiaries in depth. There was, however, a useful exchange of views which may have helped to clear the air somewhat. From what I was told, there was no discussion on Hong Kong at the lunch, as it was recognised that the EEC were engaged in a detailed re-examination of their position and other countries appeared to be holding their hands until the results of this appeared. I gathered, however, that Di Martino told Cronk the gist of what was going on and expressed the hope that the Americans would also be prepared to reconsider their position. Cronk, as usual, was somewhat cautious and non-committal and he pointed out that the formal instructions on which he was working still required that Japan, as well as the EEC, should be prepared to include Hong Kong in their scheme before the U.S. position could be altered.
2.
When the question was broached in the Committee the Chairman (Herbst) said that, although it was clearly still not possible to reach any definitive conclusions on this difficult and delicate subject, there should be a discussion to see if new points of view could be put forward. He emphasised that this question was becoming more and more urgent and that final decisions could not be put off for very much longer.
3. Cronk said that he could not make any definite statement but that legislation would need to go to Congress in a few weeks time.
He could, however, give the following indications:
(1)
(11)
There was no problem with any member of the Group of 77.
Under present circumstanees it was not the U.S.'s intention to offer preferences to any Eastern European country at the outset of the scheme (but Yugoslavia would be included as a member of the 77).
(iii) In principle the U.S. would also have no
problem in defining the OECD developing countries as beneficiaries.
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CONFIDENTIAL