|
|
中美轮胎贸易争端升级
A full-blown trade row erupted last night between the US and China after Beijing accused Washington of “rampant protectionism” for imposing heavy duties on imported Chinese tyres and threatened action against imports of US poultry and vehicles.
Trade relations between two of the world's biggest economies deteriorated after Barack Obama, US president, signed an order late on Friday to impose a new duty of 35 per cent on Chinese tyre imports on top of an existing 4 per cent tariff.
In his first big test on world trade since taking office in January, Mr Obama sided with America's trade unions, which have complained that a “surge” in imports of Chinese-made tyres had caused 7,000 job losses among US factory workers.
Chen Deming, China's minister of commerce, condemned the decision, saying that it “sends the wrong signal to the world” at a time when Washington and Beijing should be co-operating to deal with the worst economic and financial crisis in decades.
“This is a grave act of trade protectionism,” Mr Chen said in a statement. “Not only does it violate WTO rules, it contravenes commitments the United States government made at the [April] G20 financial summit.”
China said it would now investigate imports of US poultry and vehicles, responding to complaints from domestic companies.
The US warned Beijing against taking retaliatory action. “Retaliation would be inappropriate, as the United States acted entirely within the bounds of trade laws and within the safeguard provision that China itself agreed to upon accession to the World Trade Organisation,” said an official from the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
The official said that enforcing trade agreements and laws was “critical” to maintaining free markets. Another official said the US had “negotiated to the end with the Chinese to come up with something we could all agree to”.
US officials said they were scrutinising the export of poultry and vehicles, but said any action in retaliation by China could result in a complaint by the US to the WTO.
The dispute comes less than a fortnight before Mr Obama is due to host world leaders at a summit of G20 nations in Pittsburgh and ahead of his planned visit to China in November.
The decision to impose extra tyre tariffs followed a petition by the United Steelworkers union, which represents workers at many US tyre factories. Official figures show an increase in imports from 14.6m in 2004 to 46m in 2008.
Eswar Prasad, professor of trade economics at Cornell University, warned that the disagreement could escalate.
“These protectionist measures, some of which amount to domestic political posturing rather than substantive restraints on trade, could easily ratchet up into a full-blown trade war and inflict serious economic damage on both countries,” he said.
美国与中国之间昨晚爆发一场全面的贸易争执。北京指控华盛顿对中国输美轮胎开征高额关税是“严重的贸易保护主义行为”，并威胁要对从美国进口的肉鸡和汽车产品采取行动。
全球两大经济体贸易关系恶化前，美国总统巴拉克?奥巴马上周五晚间签署了一道法令，在4%现有关税的基础上，对从中国进口的轮胎加征35%的新关税。
在今年1月就任以来遇到的首个世界贸易方面的重大挑战上，奥巴马站在了美国工会的立场上，这些工会抱怨称，美国进口的中国造轮胎“激增”，已造成7000名美国工厂工人失业。
中国商务部长陈德铭谴责了这项决定，称它“向世界发出了一个错误的信号”，而华盛顿和北京现在本应开展合作，共同应对数十年来最糟糕的经济和金融危机。
“这是严重的贸易保护主义行为，”陈德铭在一份声明中表示。“不但违反WTO规则，而且违背了美国政府在（4月份）G20金融峰会上的承诺。”
中国表示，它现在将回应国内企业的申诉，调查从美国进口的肉鸡和汽车产品。
美国警告中国不要采取报复行动。“报复将是不合适的，因为美国完全是在贸易法律的界限内、在中国加入世界贸易组织时自己同意的特保条款界限内采取的行动，”美国贸易代表办公室的一名官员表示。
这名官员表示，执行贸易协定和相关法律，对维持自由市场“非常关键”。另一名官员称，美国已“与中方谈判到最后一刻，以求达成各方都能接受的方案”。
美国官员表示，他们正在详细审查肉鸡和汽车产品的出口，但表示，中国采取任何报复行动，都有可能导致美国向WTO提交申诉。
这一纠纷发生之际，距离奥巴马在匹兹堡主持20国集团领导人峰会还有不到两周时间，奥巴马还计划在11月访问中国。
加征轮胎关税的决定，是在美国钢铁工人联合会提交申请之后作出的。该工会代表美国许多轮胎工厂的工人。官方数据显示，从2004年至2008年间，进口轮胎已从1460万条增至4600万条。
康奈尔大学贸易经济学教授埃斯瓦尔?普拉萨德警告称，这一分歧有可能升级。
“这些保护主义措施——其中一些主要是国内政治姿态，而非有实质意义的贸易限制——很容易升级为一场全面的贸易战，对两国都造成严重的经济损害，”他表示。
|
|
发表于 2016-8-12 16:29:40