TNAG-1401-FCO40-1873-Future-of-Hong-Kong-continued-participation-in-the-General-A-1985 — Page 124

CONFIDENTIAL

(c) An Import Commitment:

The commitment made by the East Europeans to

increase their imports by a specified value each

year remained a dead letter and was in any case

ill-conceived, since even in a communist state,

the level of imports depends on more than merely

the will of the Government. More meaningful would

be a Chinese commitment not only to eschew formal

import barriers, but also that her imports grew in

proportion to her exports or her economy. Such a

commitment could not be absolute: but it could be

provided that so long as it was observed the

special safeguards at (a) and (b) above were in

abeyance; in other words they could be invoked

only if the import commitment was not fulfilled.

21.

Something along the lines of (b) would probably be

essential, in any Protocol of accession and something

on the lines of (c) could make it less sweeping. If it

were unable to obtain these safeguards the Community

would be free to invoke Article XXXV of the GATT, and

decline to assume GATT obligations towards the new

member, save as qualified by such provisions.

CONFIDENTIAL