0003230
G.F. 323
CONFIDENTIAL
Industry
Item
5
Global exports Exports to Exports to
1966 U.K. 1966 U.K. as a (HK3 mn.) (HK$ mn.)
share of
global exports (%)
Raincoats
and other outergarments
Women's, girls'
and infants'
outergarments of
rubberised fabric
12.3
7.4
60
Women's and girls'
raincoats
17.1
12.2
71
Car-coats
Car-coats men's
and boys'
6.2
4.5
74
Car-coats women's
and girls'
1.7
1.5
87
Miscellaneous
garments
Men's and boys'
overalls and pinafores
23.8
8.9
37
Infants' under-
garments and night garments
4.3
2.8
66
TOTAL :
797.8
387.2
49
11.
The conclusion to be drawn from this list is that at least (see, again, the footnote on page 3) 39% of Hong Kong's trade with the United Kingdom will be threatened by the loss of preference. Whether or not this trade will disappear should Britain join the Community is, of course, a matter of conjecture; but, at the moment, there are reasonable grounds to suppose that it may.
Effects of loss of preference on Hong Kong's industry
12.
It is even more difficult to estimate how loss of this trade with the United Kingdom (if it is lost) will affect Hong Kong industry. Apart from the extent to which exports of a particular product depend on the United Kingdom market, there are a number of additional factors whose effects are difficult to assess. These include the proportion which the United Kingdom trade bears to the output of the particular industry involved, the extent to which the industry will be able to increase its efficiency or to find other markets when actually faced with loss of the United Kingdom market rather than with the theoretical possibility, and, in the case of cotton textiles, the effect of restrictions placed on Hong Kong and on other suppliers. And in terms of Hong Kong industry as a whole, an important factor will be the ease with which the particular industries can switch to other products.
13. While making suitable reservations for these considerations, it is possible to come to the tentative conclusion that, of the industries mentioned in the list at paragraph 10 above, the following are likely to be seriously affected
Stainless steel tableware : cutlery forms the bulk of this
industry's production and is heavily dependent on the United Kingdom market. Other forms of tableware are a recent development subject to fashion changes and also, apparently, primarily aimed at the Urited Kingdom.
CONFIDENTIAL
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