【新闻速递】美国正式反对WTO给予中国市场经济地位 [美国媒体]

US formally opposes China market economy status at WTO

路透社——美国正式反对WTO给予中国市场经济地位

说明：2017年12月1日早8点新闻，国内尚未见诸报端



The United States has formally told the World Trade Organization (WTO) that it opposes granting China market economy status, a position that if upheld would allow Washington to maintain high anti-dumping duties on Chinese goods.

美国正式向世界贸易组织(WTO)表示，反对给予中国市场经济地位，美国继续持该立场，将允许华盛顿维持对中国商品征收高额反倾销税。

The statement of opposition, made public on Thursday, was submitted as a third-party brief in support of the European Union in a dispute with China that could have major repercussions for the trade body's future.

周四发表的反对声明，表达了美国作为第三方在中欧争端中对欧盟的支持，这一争端可能对该贸易体(指中国)的未来产生重大影响。

China is fighting the EU for recognition as a market economy, a designation that would lead to dramatically lower anti-dumping duties on Chinese goods by prohibiting the use of third-country price comparisons.

中国正努力使欧盟承认其市场经济地位，这一称号将禁止对华使用第三方可比价格，从而可使对中国商品的反倾销税大幅降低。

The U.S. and EU argue that the state's pervasive role in the Chinese economy, including rampant granting of subsidies, mean that domestic prices are deeply distorted and not market-determined.

美国和欧盟认为，国家对中国经济的广泛渗透——包括大量补贴，意味着其国内价格被严重扭曲，而不是由市场决定的。

A victory for China before the WTO would weaken many countries' trade defenses against a flood of cheap Chinese goods, putting the viability of more western industries at risk.

若中国在WTO取得胜利(指给予中国市场经济地位)，将削弱许多国家对大量廉价中国商品的抵抗能力，从而使更多的西方产业处于危险之中。

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told Congress in June that the case was "the most serious litigation we have at the WTO right now" and a decision in China's favor "would be cataclysmic for the WTO."

美国贸易代表Robert Lighthizer 今年6月对国会表示，此案是“我们目前在WTO面临的最严重诉讼”，若决议对中国有利，“对WTO的影响将是灾难性的”。

Lighthizer has repeatedly expressed frustration with the WTO's dispute settlement body and has called for major changes at the organization.

Lighthizer多次对世贸组织争端解决机构表示不满，呼吁对该组织进行重大改革。

The USTR brief, which follows a Commerce Department finding in October that China fails the tests for a market economy, argues that China should not automatically be granted market economy by virtue of the expiration of its 2001 accession protocol last year.

美国商务部10月份裁决，中国未能通过市场经济检验。因此美国贸易代表办公室的诉状认为，中国不应凭借2001年入世议定书去年到期而自动获得市场经济地位。

"The evidence is overwhelming that WTO members have not surrendered their longstanding rights ... to reject prices or costs that are not determined under market economy conditions in determining price comparability for purposes of anti-dumping comparisons," the brief concludes.

“证据是压倒性的，世贸组织成员没有屈服放弃他们的长期权利……即在确定以反倾销比较为目的的价格比较时，拒绝承认非市场经济条件下确定的价格或成本。”该诉状总结道。

The move comes as trade tensions between Washington and Beijing are increasing as the Trump administration prepares several possible major trade actions, including broad tariffs or
quotas on steel and aluminum and an investigation into Chinese intellectual property misappropriation.

此举正值华盛顿和北京之间的贸易关系愈加紧张之际，特朗普政府准备了几个可能的重大贸易行为，包括大幅提高中国钢铁和铝的关税或施加限额，以及调查中国盗用知识产权。

The Commerce Department on Tuesday launched the first government-initiated anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations in decades on Chinese aluminum sheet imports.

美国商务部周二启动了几十年来首次政府发起的针对中国铝材进口的反倾销和反补贴调查。

U.S. officials say that 16 years of WTO membership has failed to end China's market-distorting state practices.

美国官员说，中国16年的世贸组织成员身份未能终结其扭曲市场的国家行为。

"We are concerned that China's economic liberalization seems to have slowed or reversed, with the role of the state increasing" David Malpass, U.S. Treasury undersecretary for international affairs, told an event in New York on Thursday.

美国财政部负责国际事务的副部长David Malpass 周四在纽约的一次活动上说：“我们担心随着国家的作用日俱增，中国的经济自由化似乎已经放缓或逆转。”

"State-owned enterprises have not faced hard budget constraints and China's industrial policy has become more and more problematic for foreign firms. Huge exports credits are flowing in non-economic ways that distort markets," Malpass said.

“国有企业没有面临严格的预算限制，中国的产业政策对外国公司造成了越来越多的问题。巨额出口信贷以非经济方式流转，扭曲了市场。” Malpass 说。

The brief submitted to the WTO also argues that China should be treated the same way as communist eastern European countries, including Poland, Romania and Hungary were when they joined the WTO's predecessor organization, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

提交给世贸组织的这份诉状还指出，中国应该获得共产主义东欧国家那样的待遇——包括波兰、罗马尼亚和匈牙利，这些国家在上世纪60年代末和70年代初加入世贸组织的前身——关税和贸易总协定。

A senior U.S. official said those countries eventually earned market economy status as evidence of state subsidies and state distortions waned. He added that going forward, WTO members wishing to use third-country price comparisons against Chinese imports would need to keep presenting evidence of economic distortions.

一位美国高级官员说，这些国家最终获得了市场经济地位，因为国家补贴和国家扭曲行为的证据已逐渐消失。他补充道，在将来，希望利用第三国可比价格抵抗中国出口品的WTO成员，需要不断提供其经济扭曲的证据。