Beijing's markets will soon be flooded with more and cheaper colorful fruit such as orange, mangos and green durian all year round. Thanks to a new free trade agreement signed last Monday between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN),more and more tropical Southeast Asian fruit will enter the country. The agreement means that from July 1,2005, China and ASEAN countries will begin to cut tariffs. There are about 7,000 products included in the cuts. As global communication develops, countries are trading more and more goods with each other. When products are sold across national borders, countries put a tax on them. This type of tax is called a tariff. Just like removing an obstacle from the path of these goods, the reduction of tariffs will encourage trade between China and ASEAN countries. It means more products and lower prices. The agreement will bring real benefits for Chinese customers, said a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman. "In the Beijing markets you will easily find more tropical fruit like durian, which used to very, very, very expensive. Now they will be cheaper." The current tariff rate on durian is 22 per cent but will fall to zero in 2005. In the first 10 months of this year China did US$84.6 billion of trade with ASEAN countries. Experts believe this may reach US$100 billion next year. Founded in 1967, ASEAN now includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, Viet Nam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. A tariff is money paid   _   .
when buying goods to sell or buy products of foreign brand names to sell or buy goods across the border of the country to go through the customs