NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
CONFIDENTIAL
?
there
کستان امسحيواني احسه
معنا
انا مستند
من مينا
To abolish the minor
freferences the UK,
with
in Comin
Commonwealth supplies, injays, for vehicles! and buses.
ficiary
Fouth
There is some in this. A number additional bene- countries have been added to the Achame since 1971 including Philippines Thailand land Yugslavish, If Hong Kong's major caufis one of Aungy
defails
32
this
1 January 1974 and negotiations to this effect have
year begun in Brussels.
inq;ho 2-4 above
At talks in London on 23 July▲
Hong Kong officials reminded us of the undertakings
and asked for them to be fulfilled.
The Governor
has since reported his anxieties in his telegram
No 827 of 28 July, saying inter alia: "I am
particularly worried about the likely short-term
political impact of a situation in which the UK is
discriminating against Hong Kong, and Hong Kong onlyl
in respect of textiles and footwear. It is just the
sort of issue likely to raise emotive hackles ...".
(HONG KONG relapsum number 437) He has also set out statistically the effects which
Hong Kong's exclusion will have on Hong Kong's
export performance. The Governor with one hoyle and Fco officials
6.
again was the
problem
Il
IT September.
In addition to pointing to past' predictions and
promises the Hong Kong Government argue that
discrimination against them within both the Community
and Britain will divert trade away from Hong Kong.
They claim that this is already happening. They are
afraid that the precedent will be used by the United
States, Canada and Japan as an excuse for their
discriminating also against Hong Kong, not only in
textiles or footwear, but in other exports such as
electronics. They maintain further, that the EEC's
GSP for textiles is not the same as it was in 1971;
it has been improved for other beneficiaries as
regards the sizes of quotas and the numbers of
beneficiaries involved. These now include most of
Hong Kong's principal competitors, eg Yugoslavia,
Brazil, South Korea and Singapore, not however,
Taiwan, which is not included in the Ole ASP
(see paragraph 7 below which gives the teral
3
The legal aspects in paragraph 7 below.) CONFIDENTIAL
examined
Aavier's
(17259) Dd.897459 250m 12/72 G.W.B.Ltd. Gp.863
(16941) Dd.897300 250m 9/72 G.W.B.Ltd. Gp.863