On April 14, 2016, U.S. Trade Representative ("USTR") Michael Froman announced that the United States and China signed a memorandum of understanding ("MOU") terminating export subsidies provided under China's "Demonstration Bases-Common Service Platform" Program, which provided prohibited export subsidies to Chinese enterprises located in 179 industrial clusters throughout China. The agreement resolves a challenge filed by the United States in the World Trade Organization ("WTO") against the program early last year, in which the United States stated that hundreds of Chinese government legal instruments violated WTO rules. Since then, China has terminated, amended, replaced, or allowed to expire all 175 instruments, and has issued 136 measures to implement the terms of the MOU. The move is expected to benefit American workers across multiple industries, including the agriculture industry, by leveling the global playing field and creating more jobs. According to the USTR, agriculture products that will lose Chinese subsidies include apples, beef, mushrooms, pork, tea, tomatoes, beans, ginseng, poultry, seaweed, and garlic.
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