Sir Leslie Monson
RECOV‣D IN
RISTRYN-61
27 JAN 1972
AKK 61SVO)
IMPORT OF COTTON TEXTILES FROM HONG KONG
1. I agree very much with Mr Hale that by giving way to
pressure from the Hong Kong industry and thus discrediting
Mr Haddon-Cave as a negotiator, we may be storing up
considerable trouble for ourselves in the future. My own
preference would be to face the trouble now and make it
clear that the agreement which Mr Haddon-Cave reached
represented the most we could concede.
2. There is, of course, also the point that the further
we go to meet Hong Kong the more difficult it becomes for
us to oppose requests for concessions by independent
Commonwealth and foreign countries.
From the point of
view of our external commercial policy obligations, we
are not allowed to discriminate in favour of Hong Kong.
We can get away with a certain amount, but the more we
concede, the greater is the risk of complications, e.g.
with Singapore and Pakistan.
3. The blunt fact is that we have made a shambles of our
cotton textile import policy as a result of the decision to
switch from quota to tariff protection and the reversal of
that policy at a time when exporters throughout the world
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