DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY
1 VICTORIA STREET
Mr R D Hart
Foreign and Commonwealth Office European Integration Department (E) Room E105
Downing Street (ast)
London SW 1
LONDON SWIH GET
01 222 7377
3 April 1974
Ден вар
GENERALISED SCHEME OF PREFERENCES
Many thanks for your letter of 27 March about the proposals for reworking the GSP. I agree with your general assessment of the likely effect on Hong Kong and I told the rest of the Wine that we calculated that some sixty per cent of Hong Kong's current trade under butoir could be affected by the Commission's proposed
measure.
2.
Frankly, I can see very little advantage, beyond presentational ones, in what the Commission proposes. With a very few exceptions, imposing limitations on Hong Kong, or for that matter Yugoslavia, will not help the least developed whose main problems is that they have not got anything to trade with.
3. Like you, we are seeing the Hong Kong Delegation this week and will have to hear what they say. My guess is that, provided the Germans will support us, we may be able to keep as acquis what we secured for them last year though this may be dressed up as some sort of special butoir. And there is something of a hint that we may be able to get footwear into, the Scheme at some future point. But I detect no softening of the position of the other member states over the Hong Kong question and, given all the other improvements we are being asked to seek in the Scheme this year, find it hard to imagine how we are going to find negotiating coin for them all.
4. We will let you have a copy of our briefing for the Hong Kong meeting as well as comments on the note you sent us with your letter of 2 April. I will also be commenting on your draft telegram as soon as possible.
Уно сце
ду
JB INGRAM
cc: Mr A K Russell
Mr B Browns ey Mr Goodfellow Miss Welch
ODI HAPS
-
FCO, HKIOD
DoT, CRE 2
38
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