TNAG-0385-FCO40-431-Trade-relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-the-EEC-1974 — Page 182

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1.

DISCUSSION BETWEEN MR DENMAN AND MR GOLDSMITH

AND MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE HONG KONG

GENERAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Saturday 8 September 1973

Since the Hong Kong General Chamber ofCommerce have from time to time publicly expressed doubts about the UK Government's willingness or ability fully to safeguard Hong Kong's interests in relation to the EEC, I took the opportunity of Mr Denman's visit en route to the Tokyo G A T T talks to arrange a brief meeting between him and Mr Goldsmith (Deputy Permanent Representative in Brussels) and leading members of the Chamber of Commerce Committee. The Chamber welcomed this opportunity.

2.

Members of the Chamber of Commerce attending were:-

Hon P G Williams

Mr H P Foxon

Mr H K Salander

Mr S G Smallwood

Mr M G Barrow

Chairman

Vice Chairman

Vice Chairman of Europe Area Committee (Melchers (H.K.) Ltd.

UK Area Committee (The Chartered Bank) UK and Europe Area Committee (Jardine

Matheson & Co Ltd).

3.

Mr JB Kite

Mr R T Griffiths

lr $ L Chung

Director

Secretary

International Trade Department

Mr Williams opened the discussion by briefly outlining Hong Kong's fears over the effects of the introduction of the CET combined with a GSP which excludes Hong Kong textiles and footwear but not from some of Hong Kong's main competitors. He stressed that this was an emotive as well as a commercial issue. At this point he handed round copies of the Petition from the CA and others to the Secretary of State about discrimination against Hong Kong in the G S P.

4.

Mr Denman rehearsed the developments that had led up to the admission of Hong Kong to the G S P stressing that initially it had seemed unlikely that it would be possible to get Hong Kong included in the G S P at all. Had Hong Kong in fact been totally excluded it might well have made it difficult for them to persuade Japan or America to include them in their GS Ps. As it was they were now better positioned to get some preference from those two major trading countries. He fully appreciated Hong Kong's concern at the effect which their exclusion from textiles and footwear might have on their trade in Europe but in honesty had to say that the

The chances of any significant change in the E E C approach were slight. fact had to be faced that, whether justified or not, the E E C saw Hong Kong as a developed country and feared the competition from Hong Kong in some items. There was, therefore, not much prospect of their being persuaded to include Hong Kong textiles and footwear in the G S P for Hong Kong.

5. As regards the alternative suggestion that some countries at present benefitting by the G S P on textiles and footwear should now be excluded because they are well able to compete with Hong Kong, he said that any such move would raise important political issues and British Ministers would have to consider whether they could propose it. He could not predict what

the Community's /

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