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textiles to the EEC market, Hong Kong and the Republic
of Korea, are subject to restraints. The other three
are the. United States, Austria and Switzerland. I find
it difficult to detect any logic in the concept that if
total import penetration increased as a result of
unrestricted growth in trade from these three countries,
then the growth rate of restrained exports from the other
two should be reduced.
We anticipate that negotiations with the EEC to
determine future arrangements to succeed our present
agreement, which runs out at the end of this year, will
commence in late September. It will be apparent from what
I have just said that these may not be easy.
Since so
much seems to hang on the question of growth, however, let
me make one point which may, or may not, give some reassurance.
Our major markets in the EEC, by far, are the United Kingdom
and Germany. The EEC has already indicated that there are
seven categories of textiles which are particularly
sensitive and where they will be seeking growth rates lower
than the 6 per cent provided for in the present Multi-Fibre
Arrangement. It is, however, a fact that under the present
agreement between Hong Kong and the EEC, annual growth on
UK quota limits for all of these items bar one is one half
of one percent; and for the other item it is about three and
a half per cent. For Germany, the figures for the only five
categories where there is any significant trade range
And for the Community as a
between 0.5 and 2.3 per cent.
whole the annual growth ranges from 2.5 per cent for five
of the items to 7 per cent for the other two. I conclude
that there is little scope for reduction there, even if
/the
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