TNAG-0304-FCO40-340-Effects-of-tariffs-on-imports-of-cotton-textiles-to-UK-from--1971 — Page 61

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(b) Compensation for hardship cases in the form

(c)

of uncategorised yardage to accommodate

(i) orders booked by non-quota holders;

(ii) orders booked by quota holders in

excess of quota rights.

An 'up-swing' facility and swing between

specific categories in Group IV (to provide

an opportunity of trading-up in order to offset

the reduced competitiveness of fabrics).

You also asked for some undertaking that Hong Kong

would not suffer further as a result of duty-free

competition from EFTA countries.

3.

I agreed that the next round of talks should

consider all the foregoing in more detail, whilst making it clear that all these requests would raise very great

difficulties for us.

4.

When discussing the ground to be covered at the talks in January, you argued that the new Common- wealth tariff should be "decalaged" because commercial

decisions had been entered into on the basis that there

would be a tariff but no quotas. I explained that there

were both policy and legislative reasons why we could not entertain this, just as we could not contemplate deferring the introduction of the tariff, the point

here being that our industry had based its investment and other commercial decisions on the assumption that tariff protection would be available from 1st January

1972.

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