3.
progress on our application, the common
external tariff would have to be imposed on cotton textiles from Hong Kong as early as
1970. There would in any case have to be a
new understanding of some kind with Hong Kong
about the period from 1970 onwards ; and this
could take account of anything which had in the meanwhile been agreed with the Six.
(r) finally, the Hong Kong officials asked
what would happen if, as and when the enlarged Community reached a full economic union,
individual member states ceased to be
separate Contracting Parties to the G.A.T.T.
and the Community became a single Contracting
Party. In particular, would this mean that,
the U.K. having been absorbed for trading
purposes within the enlarged Community,
Hong Kong would cease to have any 0.A.T.7.
rights vis a vis the Community as a whole.
They were again told that the enquiry seemed
academic. The Community would not be
obliged by any of the terme of the G.A.T.T.
to become a single Contracting Party if it did
*
not wish to do soj
and no serious consideration
had so far been given to this idea amongst the
Six. If and when Britain became a member of
the ..., and such a suggestion were made,
we should be in a position to raise the question
of the effects on Hong Kong. The E.E.C. would
by then be likely to regard the problems of
Hong Kong as Community problems; they had never
acted harshly towards any associate or
dependency so far.
Our preliminary views in the Commonwealth office
/on
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