China WTO details of the USA-China Trade Agreement: "Quota Elimination
WTO rules bar quotas and other quantitative restrictions. China has agreed to eliminate these restrictions with phase-ins limited to five years. China will eliminate existing quotas upon accession for the top US priorities (e.g., optic fibre cable). It will phase out remaining quotas, generally by 2002, but no later than 2005. Quotas will grow from current trade level at a 15 per cent annual rate in order to ensure that market access increases progressively and reduces the effect of quantitative restrictions. Auto quotas will be phased out by 2005. In the interim, the base level quota will be US$6 billion (HK$46.8 billion) (the level prior to China's industrial auto policy) and this will grow by 15 per cent annually until elimination. "