TPP定于3月签署

Pacific Rim nations clear path to trade pact
TPP定于3月签署

Japan, Canada and nine other Pacific Rim economies have offered a rebuke to Donald Trump, declaring they had solved their differences and would press on with the Trans-Pacific Partnership on the anniversary of the US president’s withdrawal from the trade deal.

日本、加拿大和另外九个太平洋周边经济体用行动驳斥了唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)，在美国总统退出《跨太平洋伙伴关系协定》(TPP)的周年纪念日宣告他们解决了彼此间的分歧，将推进该贸易协定。

Mr Trump made pulling out of the TPP, negotiated by the Obama administration, one of his first official acts when he took office a year ago, a move that critics called a strategic gift to China.

一年前，特朗普把退出奥巴马政府谈判达成的TPP列为他上任后的首批正式行动之一，此举被批评者称为向中国送上了一份战略礼物。

But in a sign of how the rest of the world is ready to move on without the US, the 11 remaining countries announced yesterday that they would go ahead and sign the agreement in Chile on March 8 after overcoming last-minute objections from Canada.

但是，突显世界其他地区在美国缺席的情况下也准备继续前进的迹象是，余下的11个国家昨日宣布，他们将继续推进TPP，并于3月8日在智利签署该协定，此前各方克服了加拿大在最后时刻提出的反对意见。

In an added irony, the announcement came on the same day that Mr Trump was due to sign into law new tariffs on imports of solar cells and washing machines — his first significant move to erect trade barriers.

额外的一个讽刺是，上述消息宣布的同一天，特朗普签署了对进口太阳能电池板和洗衣机征收新关税的法案——这是他设置贸易壁垒的首个重大举措。

“The decision for all 11 countries to participate is epoch-making for our country and the future of the Asia-Pacific region,” Toshimitsu Motegi, Japan’s economy minister, said following talks by the pact’s chief negotiators in Tokyo.

“所有11个国家都将参与，这对我们国家、对亚太地区的未来都是划时代的，”日本经济再生大臣茂木敏充(Toshimitsu Motegi)在TPP成员国首席谈判代表在东京举行谈判后表示。

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, hailed the pact as “the right deal” for “sustaining growth and prosperity” and said it fitted with his goal of “progressive” trade deals.

加拿大总理贾斯廷•特鲁多(Justin Trudeau)在达沃斯世界经济论坛(WEF)上发言时，称赞该协定是“维系增长和繁荣”的“正确协议”，并表示，这符合他的“进步”贸易协定的目标。

Mr Motegi said the pact would send a signal to “parts of the world” where there “may be a movement towards conservatism”. But he left the door open for the US. “We will explain again to America the importance of [the deal] and I hope they will come back,” he said.

茂木敏充表示，该协定将向“可能正向保守方向移动”的“世界上某些地方”发出一个信号。但他对美国继续敞开大门。“我们将再次向美国解释该协定的重要性，我希望他们能够回来，”他表示。

Mr Trump has said he would prefer to pursue bilateral deals with TPP members, including Japan, and administration officials say pushing for those will be a priority. But the government of Shinzo Abe and others have so far refused to begin talks over any such deals, with many countries warily eyeing the Trump administration’s aggressive bid to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, both TPP members.

特朗普此前已表示，他宁愿与日本等TPP成员国谈判双边协定。特朗普政府官员表示，推动达成这些协定将是工作重点。但是，无论是安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)领导的日本政府还是其他国家政府，迄今都拒绝围绕这类双边协定展开谈判，不少国家警惕地观望着特朗普政府要同加拿大和墨西哥（两者都是TPP成员国）重新谈判北美自由贸易协定(NAFTA)的咄咄逼人的要求。

The TPP is widely seen as one of the most ambitious trade agreements ever negotiated because of new standards it sets on issues such as data flows.

TPP被广泛认为是有史以来最雄心勃勃的贸易协定之一，因为它将在数据流动等问题上确立新标准。

It will also lay down a marker to China by setting high legal standards for trade while opening up the possibility that other countries such as South Korea — and possibly even the UK — could join the pact, which has been renamed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

它还将通过为贸易制定高水平的法律标准，为中国画下一个标记，同时保留了让其他国家，如韩国，甚至英国，加入该协定的可能性。该协定已被更名为“跨太平洋伙伴关系全面及进步协定”(Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership，简称CPTPP)。

Steven Ciobo, Australia’s trade minister, said the new deal, which serves as an umbrella set of rules for separate bilateral market access agreements between members, would deliver big economic gains. “The agreement will deliver 18 new free trade agreements between the CPTPP parties,” he said.

澳大利亚贸易部长史蒂文•乔博(Steven Ciobo)表示，新协定将带来巨大的经济收益。他说：“该协定将为CPTPP各方带来18项新的自由贸易协定。”该协定将是一套纲领性的规则，用于规范成员国之间的双边市场准入协议。

译者/和风