livelihood of most people depends, either directly ог indirectly, on Hong Kong having reasonable access to
its markets and not being discriminated against
vis-a-vis its competitors.
As Hong Kong itself
maintains a free market in both goods and services, any
protectionist proposals aimed
strongly felt to be unjust
protectionist pressures
concern at present.
17.
are
against Hong Kong are
and unjustified.
US
a particular cause of
The main source of this concern is the
Thurmond/Jenkins Bill. This piece of legislation which
has already been passed by the House of Representatives
as the Textile and Apparel Trade Enforcement Act, and
i s pending before the Senate, has given rise to
considerable
concern in Hong Kong. Based on actual
1984 trade, this legislation, i f enacted, would cut
Hong Kong exports of products within the ambit of the
Multifibre Arrangement by 13% and of silk, ramie and
linen articles (which are outside the MFA) by about
70%. The value of trade loss to Hong Kong could be of
the order of US$ 1 billion, out of Hong Kong's total
domestic exports to the world of US$ 17.7 billion in
1984.
18.
The Thurmond/Jenkins Bill apart, it is understood
that legislative proposals are being considered by
Republican senators which would remove Hong Kong,
Singapore and Israel from eligibility for the United
States Generalised System of Preferences. As Israel is
separately covered by other arrangements, Hong Kong and
Singapore
of two
the
mo s t open trading entities
would thus be singled out for exclusion solely on
Initial soundings of
-
account of GND per capita.
officials in
while they
inadequate
-
USTR, Treasury and State indicate that
are
aware of the
proposal
they
have
Hong
resources wi th which to address it.
to nip the proposal in the bud. If it
Kong's aim is to nip
were to be incorporated
in a trade bill it could prove