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From: Counsellor for Hong Kong Commercial Affairs, Washington
To
: Director of Commerce and Industry
Memorandum No. 158
RESTRICTED
OFFICE CIRCULATION ONLY
244
BRITISH EMBASSY,
WASHINGTON, U.C.
30 September, 1970.
c.c. Fondon, Geneva and Brussels
.K. Dept, F.C.O.
Trade Policy Dept. F.C.0. Board of Trade (CRE 1(3)) British Embassy, Tokyo
BY REGISTERED AIRMAIL
TECNIE JAPAN ma villa 13 km MARINE
285
Preferences
In Washington telegram No. 69 of 24 September I reported that we could find no trace of the statistical exercise involving Hong Kong, which Bergsten of the White House had mentioned to Christofas. (UKDEL Brussels telegram No. 395 of 19 September to F.C.0.)
2.
He
However, once Bergsten returned to his office his staff readily admitted to being in the course of such an exercise. himself has been inaccessible, but an assistant agreed that they would welcome any statistical evidence that we could send them. So I have sent them the paper of which I enclose a copy.
3.
Not unnaturally, in view of the difficulty of producing statistics to prove a hypothetical case, the paper contains more
in the argument than figures, Even so, it contains more figures shape of estimates of prospective los8 than you have been able to supply. I hope you do not object too strongly to my having included these rather fanciful estimates. My reading of the situation here is that any figure will carry more weight than an unquantified appeal to reason; and I suppose that, if you are unable to make a hard estimate of prospective damage, it will be just as difficult for the Americans to disprove if they want to try the figures that I have given them.
Geneva telegram No. 39 to you unfortunately arrived after I had sent the paper. But I will look out for an opportunity to use the points in it, especially the rather telling one in the last sentence of the first paragraph.
Alitermain
A. Hermann
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