From Peter Blaker, M.P.
Urgent
HOUSE OF COMMONS
LONDON, SWI
22nd December 1971
167
I am writing as Chairman of the Anglo-Hong Kong Parliamentary Group to say that the Group had a meeting yesterday with representatives of the Hong Kong Association.
The Association is profoundly concerned about your announ cement on cotton textiles of the 8th December. The points they made to the Group included the following.
(1) This is an example of the U.K. going back on promises made to Hong Kong. In 1958, during the original negotiations leading to a voluntary limitation of textile shipments, Hong Kong was asked by the then Prime Minister to give a voluntary undertaking to provide a period for necessary adjustments. This period of "adjustment" is still with us fifteen years later.
H.M.G. assured Hong Kong in July 1969 and confirmed at a later date that the tariff would be instead of and not in addition to quotas from the 1st January 1972.
(2) The Hong Kong industry is now given only twenty-two days' notice that the position is changed, in spite of these earlier assurances. This is bound to have serious effects, particularly for firms who have already entered into firm contracts which they may now not be able to perform. If quotas were going to be retained surely it should have been possible to give the Hong Kong industry longer notice.
(3)
These developments will cause a serious lack of confidence in the U.K. on the part of Hong Kong. This may affect U.K. exports to Hong Kong generally. The Association have been trying to arrange for a British Industrial Exhibition in Hong Kong at the end of 1972, and their efforts to do so will be badly affected.
(4)
Now that this position has been reached the U.K. Government should argue for special treatment for Hong Kong textiles in the EEC context. We would have been in a better position to negotiate a liberal arrangement with the Six if we had not decided to retain quotas, but nevertheless we should not tamely accept the existing EEC rules in this matter.
Contd....