SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 1985
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GATT, MFA AFFECT FUTURE INTERNATIONAL TRADE
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THE MAJOR FACTOR LIKELY TO AFFECT HONG KONG'S FUTURE INTERNATIONAL TRADE WAS THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE (GATT) AND THE MULTI-FIBRE ARRANGEMENT (MFA) CHANGE OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS, THE DIRECTOR OF TRADE, MR HAM13- MACLEOD, SAID TODAY (SUNDAY),
SPEAKING AT THE HONG KONG AFFAIRS SOCIETY SYMPOSIUM, MR MACLEOD SAID HE WAS ASSUMING HERE THAT HONG KONG WOULD CONTINUE TO PARTICIPATE IN SUCH INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS AND AGREEMENTS, AS THIS WAS SPECIFICALLY PROVIDED FOR IN THE JOINT DECLARATION ON THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG.
DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE GATT WAS QUITE WIDELY DISREGARDED, WE WOULD BE VERY MUCH WORSE OFF WITHOUT IT, HE SAID.
MR MACLEOD SAID WE HAD BEEN ABLE TO RESIST ENTERING INTO ANY SO CALLED 'GREY AREA MEASURES' - THAT IS, DISCRIMINATORY RESTRAINT AGREEMENTS NOT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE GATT; AND ONE OF THE REASONS, THOUGH PROBABLY NOT THE ONLY REASON, IS THE EXISTENCE OF THE GATT.
ANOTHER REASON IS THAT HONG KONG HAS A UNIQUELY GOOD RECORD IN NOT ITSELF IMPOSING TARIFF OR QUANTITY RESTRAINTS ON TRADE, THOUGH SOMETIMES IT IS NOT AS APPARENT AS WE WOULD LIKE THAT WE ARE GIVEN FULL CREDIT FOR THIS, HE SAID.
TURNING TO THE MFA, WHICH EXPIRED IN MID-1986, MR MACLEOD SAID THAT WHAT HAPPENED IN TEXTILES AND APPAREL WAS OF CRUCIAL IMPORTANCE TO HONG KONG BECAUSE SUCH GOODS STILL CONSTITUTED OVER 40 PER CENT OF OUR DOMESTIC EXPORTS DESPITE DIVERSIFICATION.
WHAT CONCERNED US PARTICULARLY, PERHAPS, WAS THE ABSENCE OF A REASONED DIALOGUE, BASED ON FACTS, IN CURRENT DEBATE ON THE GATT AND THE MFA, MR MACLEOD SAID.
HE ADDED THAT THIS WAS PARTICULARLY NOTICEABLE IN THE U.S.A. AT THIS TIME, FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE RATIONALE FOR THE BILL BEING PUSHED BY THE U.S. TEXTILE LOBBY, REFERENCE IS MADE TO THE GROWTH IN ' IMPORTS' TO JUSTIFY YET MORE CURBS ON DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.
HOWEVER, MR MACLEOD SAID THE FIGURES USED WERE CLEARLY MISLEADING: THEY INCLUDED BOTH PRODUCTS WHICH FALL UNDER THE MFA AND PRODUCTS WHICH DID NOT, AND THEY INCLUDED PRODUCTS IMPORTED FROM SUPPLIERS WHICH WERE RESTRAINED AND FROM SUPPLIERS WHICH THE U.S. HAD CHOSEN NOT TO RESTRAIN, MOST NOTABLY THE EEC.
AND NEEDLESS TO SAY THEY USED AS A BASE FOR ESTABLISHING NEW, LOWER RESTRAINT LIMITS THE YEAR IN WHICH IMPORTS WERE THE LOWEST FOR YEARS, HE SAID.
STRESSING THAT ONE OF OUR IMPORTANT TASKS WAS TO CORRECT THIS SORT OF MISLEADING INFORMATION, MR MACLEOD SAID THAT U.S. IMPORTS OF MFA TEXTILES AND APPAREL FROM HONG KONG IN 1984 WERE ONLY 7.6 PER CENT UP (IN VOLUME) OVER 1978, GIVING AN ANNUAL RATE OF AROUND ONE PER CENT. RATHER DIFFERENT FROM THE PICTURE GIVEN BY THE BILL'S APOLOGISTS OF ANNUAL GROWTH OF 19 PER CENT,
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