Under the terms of the agreement, high Chinese tariffs on nearly all agriculture products would be reduced substantially over the next four years. On beef we would see tariffs reduced from 45 percent to 12 percent, on citrus from 40 percent to 12 percent and on wine from 65 percent to 20 percent. In fact, the deal would reduce tariffs for agricultural products to levels below those of most American trading partners. Furthermore, the agreement on the table would eliminate China's export subsidies for agricultural products including cotton, rice and corn, which will allow U.S. farmers to compete on a more level playing field and enhance U.S. efforts to curb European export subsidies. The technology sector has been a driving force behind this period of unprecedented economic growth, and the China WTO accession agreement will give U.S. telecommunications, software and Internet companies access to China's 1.2 billion people.
China is currently the sixth largest computer market and the fourth largest computer chip market.
It is expected to become the number two market, after the United States, in the very near future. Providing the U.S. high-tech sector with access to this enormous, and largely untapped market, will help to generate the fuel for continued economic growth and opportunity for American workers and their families. Expanding access to technology and the Internet is important to the U.S. economy, but it is also key to promoting personal freedoms in China. In 1998, five million Chinese citizens had access to the Internet. In just one year that number has doubled with ten million Chinese citizens now enjoying access to the World Wide Web.