奥巴马政府再度在WTO起诉中国

Donald Trump may be threatening to start a Trade war with China, but the US and its geopolitical rival are already skirmishing ahead of what could be a combative summer.

唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)或许正在威胁要与中国展开贸易战,但美国与中国这个地缘政治对手在可能展开激烈交锋的今年夏天到来之前,已提前爆发小规模冲突.

The latest sign came yesterday when the US brought a new challenge in the World Trade Organisation against

昨日两国贸易争端有了最新情况,美国在世界贸易组织(WTO)针对中国对美国禽类产品征收反倾销税提起新的诉讼.这是奥巴马(Obama)政府第12次在世贸组织起诉中国,次数超过以往任何一届美国政府.

Chinese anti-dumping tariffs on US poultry products. It is the 12th time the Obama administration has taken China to the WTO, more than any of its predecessors.

美国贸易代表迈克•弗罗曼(Mike Froman)表示;!美国农民应该获得公平的机会,在全球经济中去竞争、取胜,如果中国试图让我们的农民、企业和工人处于不利的竞争地位,本届政府将继续追究其责任.!

“American farmers deserve a fair shot to compete and win in the global economy, and this administration will continue to hold China responsible when they attempt to disadvantage our farmers, businesses and workers,! said Mike Froman, the US trade representative.

此举是美国政府及业界对中国采取强硬态度的更广泛努力的一部分,贸易话题已不仅仅是竞选话题.

The latest move is part of a broader effort by the administration and US industry to get tough on China, with trade rhetoric rising even far from the campaign trail.

铁矿石生产商Cliffs Natural Resources首席执行官洛伦索•贡萨尔维斯(Lourenco Goncalves)上周在美国钢铁工业协会(US steel industry association)会议间歇向记者表示;!这是战争,不是贸易.中国正在发动经济战争.我们必须认识到这一点,并采取相应行动.!

“This is war. This is not trade,! Lourenco Goncalves, chief executive of Cliffs Natural Resources, an iron ore producer, told reporters last week on the sidelines of a US steel industry association meeting. “China is waging economic war. We ought to recognise that and act accordingly.!

美国政府之所以会采取这一行动,一方面是受政治因素驱动,另一方面是希望争取国会在明年1月奥巴马离任前批准《跨太平洋伙伴关系协定》（Trans-Pacific Partnership,简称TPP）——美国20多年来谈判达成的规模最大的贸易协议.

Driving the administration!s push is politics and its desire to secure congressional approval before Mr Obama leaves office in January for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the largest trade deal negotiated by the US in more than 20 years.

受特朗普及其他美国总统竞选人言论影响,上述计划已变得复杂化.但美国政府的反应是加强论证TPP——包括美国、日本以及环太平洋地区除中国外的其他10个经济体——是对中国企图控制该地区贸易的一项重要战略回应.

Those plans have been complicated by the rhetoric of Mr Trump and others campaigning to succeed Mr Obama. But the administration!s response has been to intensify its argument that the TPP, which includes the US, Japan and 10 other Pacific rim economies but not China, is an important strategic response to Beijing!s bid to control commerce in the region.

美国官员认为,如果中国是个问题——如特朗普及其他人所指——那么TPP才是完美回应,而不是共和党这位假定被提名人所提议的粗暴关税.

If China is the problem, as Mr Trump and others argue, then the TPP, rather than the crude tariffs the presumptive Republican nominee is proposing, is the perfect response, US officials argue.

与此同时,美国商界对中国新的经济民族主义,及其对美国农产品出口、科技企业和全球钢铁行业的影响感到越来焦虑.

Those efforts are coinciding with rising anxiety in US business about what is seen as a new economic nationalism in China and its impact on such things as US agricultural exports, technology businesses and the global steel industry.

本月底之前,美国商务部将决定是否支持美国钢铁公司(US Steel)提出的禁止从中国进口钢材的请求,作为对该公司所称的中国进行黑客攻击、窃取知识产权的惩罚.截至今夏结束,三起反倾销案可能导致美国对中国部分钢材产品征收高达266%的惩罚性关税.

By the end of this month the US commerce department is set to decide whether to allow a case brought by US Steel seeking a ban on steel imports from China as punishment for what it says were Chinese hacking attacks and the theft of intellectual property. By the end of the summer three anti-dumping cases could result in punitive tariffs of as much as 266 per cent being imp-osed on certain Chinese steel products.

美国还在其他方面对中国施加贸易压力.美国一直在悄悄进行游说,试图阻止中国获得世贸组织框架下的!市场经济!地位,而北京方面非常重视这一地位,并称其应在今年12月——中国加入这一全球贸易机构15周年之际——自动获得该地位.

The US is also applying trade pressure elsewhere. It has been quietly lobbying to block China from securing “market economy! status under the WTO, something Beijing prizes and says it should be granted automatically in December with the 15th anniversary of its accession to the global trade body.

尽管美国在推动美中双边投资协定取得进展,但奥巴马政府正将北京排除在日内瓦进行的全球服务贸易谈判之外,并在另一系列谈判中施压中国放宽对太阳能电池等绿色产品的限制.

Even as it pushes to make progress on a bilateral investment treaty with China, the Obama administration is keeping Beijing out of separate talks in Geneva on the global trade in services and pressing it to loosen restrictions on green products such as solar cells in yet another set of negotiations.

白宫经济顾问委员会前成员查德•P•布朗(Chad P Brown)表示,奥巴马政府的对华策略与特朗普的提议之间有本质区别.他说,美国当前采取的措施都是在!游戏规则!之下进行的,而特朗普提议实施的单方面关税很可能会让美国违反世贸组织规则.但还有一些自由贸易的倡导者抱怨他们所看到的形势变化.

Chad P Brown, a former member of Mr Obama!s council of economic advisers, said there was a fundamental difference between the administration!s tactics against China and what Mr Trump was proposing. The current moves were being conducted within “the rules of the game!, he said, while Mr Trump!s proposed unilateral tariffs would probably put the US in violation of WTO rules. But other advocates of free trade bemoan what they see developing.

自由派智囊机构加图研究所(Cato Institute)负责贸易研究的丹•伊肯森(Dan Ikenson)表示,奥巴马政府为应对中国崛起而推动TPP,凸显了在国会面前奥巴马处于多么弱势的地位.他说;!奥巴马政府要把中国定性为真正的无视国际规则的国家,所有的理由都摆在面前.最佳的回击方式就是提起这些贸易诉讼.!

Dan Ikenson, who directs trade resear-ch at the libertarian Cato Institute, said the administration!s pushing of the TPP as a response to the rise of China highlighted how weak Mr Obama!s position was with Congress. “The elements are all there for the administration to cast China as this real international scofflaw. And the best way to hit back is to bring these trade cases,! he said.

彼得森国际经济研究所(Peterson Institute for International Economics)的加里•赫夫鲍尔(Gary Hufbauer)表示,还存在一种风险,即美中贸易关系进入一个!极端敌对期!,这对这两个经济体来说都是凶兆.