CONFIDENTIAL
-11-
some such basis as this he did not believe that there would
be any damaging effect on Hong Kong's prospects of benefitting
from the General Preferences Scheme in the United States.
On this, he said that it seemed clear that Hong Kong was
going to benefit, at least to some extent, from the schemes in
Japan and the EEC; and this meant that, having regard to what
had already been said in Washington, the United States
Government would now have to consider Hong Kong
under their GPS. But he could not say what would emerge from
that consideration.
8.
Mr Samuels agreed that the attitude of South Korea
and Taiwan to textile restraint was both important and
uncertain. He hoped that Ambassador Kennedy's trip would
thro more light on the subject.
Reverse Preferences
9.
Following on from what had been said about the
General Preferences Scheme, Mr Samuels repeated to me what he had
said earlier to Sir Con O'Neill about the gradual development
of a rather greater degree of flexibility in Washington about
giving beneficiary status under their Generalised Preferences
Scheme to countries which gave preferences to developed countries
(e.g. the EEC or the United Kingdom). It still seemed out of
the question that Congress cold approve the continuation
of beneficiary status for such countries after 1975, but he
hoped that it would be possible for the United States to withdraw
their condition that a statement of intent to eliminate reverse
preferences must be made before benefits can be enjoyed under
the United States GPS. He said that the United States
Government!
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