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CONFIDENTIAL
(b)
Lancashire industry makes this essential. There is
a real danger of backsliding from the Commission;
we are unhappy about the Commission's intention to present the totality of growth across the board as being a level of 6% for each supplying country. We recognise this will be a presentational point designed to persuade the supplying countries that the Community is acting in accordance with the present MFA. But we have a problem of presentation with our own textile industry who will look at the 6% figure and conclude the Community is not trying to ensure significantly
tougher quotas;
(c) we are unhappy about the severity of the cuts which
the Commission intends to impose on Hong Kong. We
realise there is little room for manoeuvre and we would
not want extra generosity to Hong Kong to put in question the global approach. But we hope there may be room for a little more for Hong Kong. Hong Kong may otherwise be provoked into a refusal to cooperate. This in turn risks bringing down the whole approach.
There are also important British commercial interests,
notably the China Light and Power Company power station project, which the Governor of Hong Kong has already warned may be at risk;
(d) Ministers have agreed we should attempt to differentiate
between the most advanced and the poorest LDCs in trade policy generally and particularly with regard
to textile restraints under the MFA. We would want
the best treatment possible, consistent with our
other general objectives, to be given to the poorest textile suppliers, notably India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Attitudes of other Member States
14. The majority of Member States, though they will undoubtedly have problems over individual quotas for individual suppliers,
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