特朗普政府准备无视不利美国的WTO裁决

The Trump administration is preparing to ignore any rulings by the World Trade Organisation that it sees as an affront to US sovereignty, according to a leaked report prepared by officials.

一份遭外泄的、由多名官员准备的报告显示，特朗普(Trump)政府准备无视任何它认为有意冒犯美国主权的世界贸易组织(WTO)裁决。

The move would be a departure from US practice and a blow to the watchdog’s credibility.

此举将有违美国的惯常做法，也会对世贸组织的公信力构成打击。

The hard-hitting report, due to be sent to Congress on Wednesday and obtained by the Financial Times, marks the first time the new administration has laid out its trade plans in writing. The administration promises to shake up US trade policy and confront what it portrays as a dysfunctional global system that has benefited China and other emerging economies at a cost to US workers.

英国《金融时报》拿到的这份措辞强硬的报告定于在周三发给美国国会，它是美国新政府首次以书面形式列出其贸易方案。特朗普政府承诺要整顿美国的贸易政策，直面它所称的功能失调的全球体系。按特朗普政府的描述，这一全球体系牺牲美国工人的利益为代价，给中国和其他新兴经济体带去了好处。

“Ever since the United States won its independence, it has been a basic principle of our country that American citizens are subject only to laws and regulations made by the US government — not rulings made by foreign governments or international bodies,” officials wrote. “Accordingly, the Trump administration will aggressively defend American sovereignty over matters of trade policy.”

官员们写道：“自美国获得独立以来，有一点始终是我们国家的基本原则：美国公民只受制于美国政府制定的法律法规，而不受制于外国政府或国际机构作出的裁决。因此，在贸易政策问题上，特朗普政府将积极维护美国的主权。”

The report laying out President Donald Trump’s 2017 trade agenda comes as his administration is examining alternatives to using the WTO’s dispute settlement system. It also makes clear the scorn with which Mr Trump and his aides regard the Geneva-based institution in which Washington played a key role in establishing in the 1990s.

这份列出美国总统唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump) 2017年贸易议程的报告出现之际，特朗普政府正在审视有何办法绕开世贸组织的争端解决机制。这份报告还清楚地揭示出特朗普及其助手对世贸组织的蔑视态度。世贸组织是一家总部位于日内瓦的机构，上世纪90年代该机构成立过程中，美国政府发挥过关键作用。

Washington is facing several important WTO decisions, particularly involving China. Potentially the most important is a WTO complaint filed in December by Beijing against the EU and US for blocking China’s request to be treated as a “market economy” under the institution’s rules.

华盛顿方面正面临几项重要的世贸组织裁定，特别是与中国有关的裁定。其中最重要的，可能涉及去年12月中国在世贸组织对欧盟(EU)和美国提起的诉讼。中方起诉的理由是，欧盟和美国拒绝按照中国要求的那样，视中国为世贸组织规定下的一个“市场经济体”。

A final ruling could still be years away. But were the US to ignore a finding in China’s favour it could have major consequences for the WTO as a venue for resolving trade disputes before they fester into destructive trade wars.

最终的裁决可能还需要几年时间才能作出。然而，如果美国对有利于中国的裁决采取无视态度，那可能会对世贸组织作为贸易争端解决平台、避免贸易争端恶化为毁灭性贸易战的作用产生重大影响。

A spokesman for Wilbur Ross, the new US commerce secretary and Mr Trump’s trade tsar, declined to comment.

美国新商务部长、特朗普团队贸易“沙皇”威尔伯•罗斯(Wilbur Ross)的发言人拒绝置评。

Echoing Mr Trump’s vows to rip up and renegotiate existing trade deals, the report blames the WTO for enabling the economic rise of China and failing to enforce its rules on Beijing.

这份报告呼应了特朗普撕毁既有贸易协定并重新展开谈判的誓言，它将中国经济崛起归咎于世贸组织，并指责该机构未能对中国执行其规定。

“President Trump has called for a new approach, and the Trump administration will deliver on that promise,” it declares. “It is time for a more aggressive approach.”

报告宣称：“特朗普总统呼吁采取新做法，特朗普政府将兑现这一承诺。是时候采取更强有力的做法了。”

The administration said it planned to use “all possible leverage” to open up foreign markets to US goods and companies. Among the tools it cites is a provision known as Section 301 of the US trade act of 1974 that allows the US to impose punitive tariffs against countries for discriminating against US goods but which has not been used by Washington since the WTO’s 1995 creation.

特朗普政府表示，它计划动用“一切可能手段”，为美国商品和美国企业打开外国市场。报告提及的手段包括一项名为美国《1974年贸易法》(Trade Act of 1974)第301条款(Section 301)的法律条文。该条款允许美国政府对歧视美国商品的国家征收惩罚性关税。不过，自1995年世贸组织成立以来，美国政府一直没有动用过该条款。

The measure, which was used in the 1980s against Japan and other trading partners, has long been seen as a blunt unilateral instrument of US trade policy. But in the report, administration officials call it “a powerful lever to encourage foreign countries to adopt more market-friendly policies”.

上世纪80年代，该条款曾被用来针对日本及其他贸易伙伴。长期以来，该条款一直被视为美国贸易政策中一个粗暴的单边政策工具。但在上述报告中，特朗普政府官员却称该条款是“鼓励外国采取对市场更友好政策的有力手段”。

The change, the administration argues, is needed to address a US trade deficit in manufactured goods with the rest of the world that has more than doubled over the past 16 years to $648bn last year. Over that time the US has lost almost 5m manufacturing jobs while real median household incomes have declined.

特朗普政府论称，为了解决美国对世界其余地区的制成品贸易逆差，这一变革是必要的。过去16年里，该逆差已增长一倍以上，去年达到6480亿美元。在同一时期内，美国流失了近500万个制造业岗位，家庭实际收入中值也出现下滑。

“The results of this system have not lived up to expectations,” the report says. “These figures indicated that while the current global trading system has been great for China, a giant economy that does not act on the basis of market principles, the United States (and many other countries) that practise market-based capitalism have struggled over the last 16 years.”

报告表示：“该体系的结果辜负了人们的期望。这些数字表明，当前全球贸易体系对中国这个并未依照市场原则行事的巨大经济体十分有利，像美国(及其他许多国家)这样践行以市场为基础的资本主义的，却在过去16年里处境艰难。”