THURSDAY, MARCH 20,
1950
TALKS ON TEXTILE EXPORTS END
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A TRADE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN THIS EVENING (THURSDAY) ANNOUNCED THAT THE CURRENT TALKS WITH THE USA ON HONG KONG'S TEXTILE EXPORTS HAD ENDED.
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THE TALKS BEGAN ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, THE U.S. TEAM BEING LED BY AMBASSADOR CHARLES CARLISLE, AND THE HK TEAM BY HAMISH MACLEOD, DIRECTOR OF TRADE.
COMMENTING ON THE TALKS, THE SPOKESMAN SAID THAT THE U.S. SIDE HAD EXPLAINED THE PROBLEMS AS THEY SAW THEN POSED BY IMPORTS OF MFA AND NON-MFA PRODUCTS. AND HAD PROPOSED A MORE RESTRICTIVE REGIME BASED OVERALL ON 1985 TRADE LEVELS.
IN RESPONSE, THE HK SIDE HAD QUERIED THE RATIONALE FOR SELECTING HK FOR SPECIALLY RESTRICTIVE TREATMENT, HAVING REGARD TO THE FACT THAT, FOR EXAMPLE, HK'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE INCREASE IN THE U.S.'S MFA IMPORTS OVER THE PERIOD 1981-85 WAS ONLY FOUR PER CENT. MOREOVER, 95 PER CENT OF HK'S MFA APPAREL EXPORTS TO THE USA WERE ALREADY UNDER SPECIFIC QUOTA LIMITS, WITH VERY LOW GROWTH RATES AVERAGING ABOUT ONE PER CENT. IT WAS ALSO MADE CLEAR THAT SUCH A REGIME WOULD BE IMCOMPATIBLE WITH THE PROGRESSIVE LIBERALISATION IN TEXTILES BEING SOUGHT IN THE MFA NEGOTIATIONS, AND INDEED WITH THE AIMS OF THE PROPOSED NEW GATT ROUND OF MULTILATERAL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS. NOR WAS IT COMPATIBLE WITH THE 1982-87 BILATERAL TEXTILES AGREEMENT BETWEEN HK AND THE U.S.
BOTH SIDES HAD ALSO INDICATED THEIR WILLINGNESS TO
CONTINUE A DIALOGUE ON HOW THE MFA NEGOTIATION AND ANY ASSOCIATED BILATERAL PROBLEMS COULD BE BROUGHT TO A SATISFACTORY CONCLUSION.
MANUFACTURING ORDERS-ON-HAND REMAIN STABLE
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THE AVERAGE VOLUME OF ORDERS-ON-HAND (IN TERMS OF MONTHS) IN THE 200 LARGEST FIRMS IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR IN JANUARY 1996 REMAINED STABLE COMPARED WITH THE PREVIOUS MONTH, ACCORDING TO THE RESULTS OF A SURVEY RELEASED TODAY (THURSDAY) BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
THE WEARING APPAREL AND PLASTIC PRODUCTS INDUSTRIES RECORDED SOME INCREASES IN THE AVERAGE VOLUME OF ORDERS, WHEREAS THE TEXTILES AND FABRICATED METAL PRODUCTS INDUSTRIES SHOWED A SLIGHT DECLINE. OTHER INDUSTRIES REPORTED NO CHANGE.
/A STABLE