SECRET
NICKA/966
смо
HICK 10/9
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY No. 51 * MA. 1971
HKILG/528/3
19
Mr Heath (Commodities)
IMPORT OF COTTON TEXTILES
TO TARIFFS ON 1 JANUARY 1972
1.
34
TRANSITION FROM QUOTAS
We spoke about this on the telephone yesterday. On the assumption that the Chancellor of the Exchequer agrees to the Secretary of State's request to reconsider Mr Noble's proposal I would like to include something on the following lines in a telegram we have in draft for Hong Kong -
"Your telegram No. 291. As you will have seen from PCO saving desnotch No. 95 of 18 March it is not considered here that there are likely to be adverse effects on Hong Kong's textile trae generally though the industry's apprehension on behalf of particular firas is fully appreciated. I hope however that the assurances contained in paragraph 5 of my telegram No. (which of course go yond the narrow field of textiles) will mest this point. In this connection I am very lud to be tule to tell you that a speciul clause is to be included in this year's Pinance bill providing for the exclusion from the tariff of cotton te.biles shipped aminat quotas in 1971 but scriving in Frituin at any time during the first 3 months or 1972.
2.
We are planning that there should be 3 telegrams about the decence contribution one containing instructions to the Governor, the second a message to the Unofficial Members of the executive Council and the third an annex to that messuje.
The additional paragraph set out above would go at the end of the telegram of instructions to the Governor. The assurances referred to in that paragraph will be in the telegram containing the annex to the message from the Secretary of state. Paragraph 5 (which has been agreed with one of DTI) reads as follows -
"ING fully realise that despite Hong Kong's spectacularly booming economy, the Colony's future trading position is to a considerable degree dependent on external factors over which the Hong
HMO Kong Government can exercise little control. have been doing and will continue to do their best το minimise the pressures which my develop against the Colony's economy es a result of these factors. If these pressures were to develop to such an extent that Hong Kong's economy were seriously threatened, a new situation would have been created and this would have to be considered both by the Hong Kong Government and by HKG in the light of the circumstances at the time."
SECRET
13.