XN000022-1987-12-27 — Page 3

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IMPACT ON HONG KONG'S GLOBAL TRADING INTERESTS

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1987

LINK

TO GAIN A COMPETITIVE

HONG KONG DOES NOT MAINTAIN THE ADVANTAGE OR TO BUILD UP TRADE SURPLUSES.

STRONG IN 1984 AND

1985, HONG

WHEN THE US$ WAS COMPETITIVENESS SUFFERED, ITS DOMESTIC EXPORTS FELL AND THERE GROWTH IN THE ECONOMY AS A WHOLE. BUT THE LINK WAS NOT CHANGED.

KONG'S WAS NO

SMOOTH. OVERALL,

THE HONG KONG HAS THUS TAKEN THE ROUGH WITH THE HKS HAS ACTUALLY APPRECIATED SLIGHTLY SINCE OCTOBER 1983.

EVEN OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS, WHEN THE VALUE BEEN DECLINING WITH THE US$, HONG KONG HAS NOT HAD A GLOBAL VISIBLE TRADE.

OF THE

SURPLUS

HK$ HAS ON ITS

ITS GLOBAL VISIBLE TRADE WAS IN ROUGH BALANCE IN 1986 SAME IS EXPECTED IN 1987.

HONG KONG/U.S. TRADE RELATIONSHIP

AND THE

A BILATERAL

HONG KONG RUNS

TRADE SURPLUS WITH THE UNITED ATTRIBUTABLE TO STATES. BUT THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE CASE. IT IS NOT

AND THE HK$/US$ LINK

CERTAINLY NOT TO ANY EXPORTS TO HONG KONG.

U.S.

RESTRICTIONS ON

UNLIKE MANY OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE REGION, HONG KONG'S ARE COMPLETELY OPEN, IT HAS NO TARIFF BARRIERS.

MARKETS

IN ADDITION:

PER CAPITA

IMPORTS

HONG KONG'S EXCEPTIONALLY HIGH: WORTH US$520 A YEAR

GOODS OF U.S.

COMPARED WITH

FOR TAIWAN, US$138 FOR KOREA, US$189 FOR JAPAN AND THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY

ARE US$258 US$157 FOR

KONG ITS OTHER MAJOR KONG'S EXPORTS ΤΟ

IN THE FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 1987, U.S. EXPORTS TO HONG ROSE 29 PER CENT, FASTER THAN ITS EXPORTS TO TRADING PARTNERS IN THE REGION, WHILE HONG THE UNITED STATES ROSE BY ONLY 14 PER CENT

FAR GROWN BY

THE U.S. TRADE DEFICIT WITH HONG KONG HAS SO LESS THAN 10 PER CENT IN 1987 COMPARED WITH INCREASES OF UP 63 PER CENT IN ITS DEFICITS WITH OTHER MAJOR TRADING PARTNERS

TO

PER

IN THE

LESS THAN 1 HONG KONG CONTRIBUTED US$25.6 MILLION OR

TRADE DEFICIT IN CENT TO THE INCREASE IN THE U.S.

1986. SHARE OF THE FIRST NINE MONTHS OF THIS YEAR, HONG KONG'S U.S. DEFICIT HAS REMAINED FLAT

FALLEN STEADILY

SINCE 1982.

AFTER

HAVING

/CONCLUSION

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