欧盟考虑对美国钢铝关税采取反制措施

The EU will consider imposing its own “safeguard” tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium in response to US President Donald Trump’s decision to levy national security tariffs on imports of the metals from around the world, the EU’s top trade official has warned.

欧盟高层贸易官员警告称，欧盟将考虑对进口钢材和铝材征收自己的“保障性”关税，以应对美国总统唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)以国家安全为由对来自世界各地的进口金属征收关税。

In an interview with the Financial Times, Cecilia Malmstrom, EU trade commissioner, said officials in Brussels would wait to see the formal announcement of US tariffs, which Mr Trump said would come next week, before taking any action.

欧盟贸易委员赛西莉亚•马尔姆斯特伦(Cecilia Malmstrom)(见题图)在接受英国《金融时报》采访时表示，布鲁塞尔的官员会等美国正式公布关税——特朗普表示将在下周公布——后再采取行动。

The EU was already engaged in discussions with other countries about mounting a WTO challenge to the 25 per cent tariff on steel and 10 per cent levy on aluminium announced by Mr Trump on Thursday, Ms Malmstrom said.

马尔姆斯特伦表示，对于特朗普在周四宣布的对钢铁征收25%的关税、对铝征收10%的关税一事，欧盟已经与其他国家讨论要利用世界贸易组织(WTO)规则对其发起挑战。

She also signalled, however, that the EU was prepared to take more immediate action, with any case at the WTO likely to take years. 不过她也表示欧盟准备采取更快速的行动，因为WTO的案件都可能需要数年时间。

EU officials are worried that US tariffs could lead to the diversion of steel intended for the US to the EU and add to the woes of the European steel industry. As a result, Ms Malmstrom said, the EU is likely to launch its own safeguard investigation into imports in a move that could result in Europe imposing its own tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.

欧盟官员担心美国这次的关税可能会导致打算出口到美国的钢材转移到欧盟，加剧欧洲钢铁行业的困境。马尔姆斯特伦表示，因此欧盟可能会对进口产品发起自己的保护性调查，这最终可能让欧洲对钢铁和铝进口产品征收关税。

Under WTO rules, a member state can take safeguard action to restrict imports of a product temporarily if a domestic industry is threatened by a surge in imports. The EU was also considering separate bilateral retaliatory measures against US goods, Ms Malmstrom said.

根据WTO规则，如果国内产业受到进口激增的威胁，成员国可以采取保障措施限制相关产品的进口。马尔姆斯特伦表示，欧盟也在考虑对美国商品实施对等的报复性措施。