美國在半導體領域嚴防中國威脅

Donald Trump’s incoming trade team is backing a call from the Obama administration to take a hard line on China over semiconductors, after outgoing officials likened the potential impact of Beijing’s investment in the sector to the devastation seen in the global steel industry.

唐納德•特朗普(Donald Trump)即將就任的貿易團隊支持奧巴馬政府有關在半導體領域對中國采取強硬政策的呼吁，此前即將卸任的白宮官員把北京方面在該行業(yè)投資的潛在影響與全球鋼鐵行業(yè)出現(xiàn)的破壞相提并論。

At a confirmation hearing this week, Wilbur Ross, who is poised to become Mr Trump’s commerce secretary and will take a lead role on trade policy, said: “The Chinese are the world’s largest consumer of semiconductors, so far mainly importing . . . from [the US].” But he was “very, very concerned” about China’s growing semiconductor sector.

在本周的提名確認聽證會上，特朗普提名的商務部長、將在貿易政策方面扮演領導角色的威爾伯•羅斯(Wilbur Ross)表示：“中國人是世界上最大的半導體消費者，迄今主要是從(美國)……進口。”但他對中國不斷發(fā)展壯大的半導體行業(yè)感到“非常、非常擔憂”。

Mr Ross said he had discussed the issue with Obama administration officials, who had raised concerns about China’s state-backed semiconductor sector and its potential strategic threat to the US.

羅斯稱，他已經(jīng)與奧巴馬政府官員討論過這個問題，后者對中國國家支持的半導體行業(yè)及其對美國構成的潛在戰(zhàn)略威脅也表示了擔憂。

Technology executives had expressed concern about China’s behaviour during a recent meeting convened by Mr Trump, he said.

他說，科技行業(yè)高管在特朗普最近召集的一個會議上對中國的行為表示關切。

The incoming administration has already promised to take a tough line on China. During the election campaign Mr Trump threatened to impose 45 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports and accused Beijing of manipulating its currency.

特朗普政府已承諾要對中國采取強硬態(tài)度。在競選期間，特朗普威脅要對中國輸美產(chǎn)品征收45%的關稅，并指責北京方面操縱人民幣匯率。

But the semiconductors issue highlights one area where the Obama administration is handing it a clear plan of action. Bruce Andrews, outgoing deputy commerce secretary, warned in an interview with the Financial Times that China’s investment in its semiconductor industry posed as great a threat to the US economy as its aggressive steel and solar subsidies had.

但半導體問題突顯了奧巴馬政府留給特朗普團隊一份明確行動計劃的一個領域。即將離任的商務部副部長布魯斯•安德魯斯(Bruce Andrews)在接受英國《金融時報》采訪時警告，中國對本國半導體產(chǎn)業(yè)的投資對美國經(jīng)濟構成巨大威脅，就像之前中國向鋼鐵和太陽能產(chǎn)業(yè)大舉提供補貼那樣。

“With the internet of things and the explosion of the digital economy, semiconductors are a foundational technology, and the United States has always had the most innovative and world-leading companies,” Mr Andrews said.

“在物聯(lián)網(wǎng)問世和數(shù)字經(jīng)濟爆炸式增長之際，半導體是一種基礎技術，而美國一直擁有最具創(chuàng)新精神和世界領先的企業(yè)，”安德魯斯表示。

But China had established a $150bn fund to support the sector and identified it as a strategic industry, raising the pressure on US companies. The moves also raised the prospect that China would start to distort global markets, as it had when it aggressively ramped up steel production and exports, he added.

但中國已建立了一只1500億美元的基金來支持半導體行業(yè)，并將其列為一個戰(zhàn)略行業(yè)，從而加大了對美國公司的壓力。他補充說，這些舉措還引發(fā)了這樣一個可能性，即中國將開始扭曲全球市場，就像中國在大舉增加鋼鐵產(chǎn)量和出口之后出現(xiàn)的那種局面。

The Obama administration had raised its concerns regularly with Chinese officials in bilateral meetings over the past 18 months, Mr Andrews said.

安德魯斯表示，奧巴馬政府在過去18個月的雙邊會議上經(jīng)常向中國官員表示關切。

In a report this month for President Barack Obama, a commission, whose members included current and former chief executives from chipmakers such as Intel and Qualcomm, called for the US to do more to create a supportive environment for its semiconductor companies and to retain talent.

在本月提交巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)總統(tǒng)的一份報告中，成員包括英特爾(Intel)和高通(Qualcomm)等芯片制造商的現(xiàn)任和前任首席執(zhí)行官的一個委員會，呼吁美國采取更多行動為其半導體公司創(chuàng)造一個有利環(huán)境，并留住人才。

It also called for the US to work with the EU and other allies to strengthen global export controls on sensitive semiconductor technologies and for continuing scrutiny of Chinese investment in the sector by the US committee on foreign investment.

該委員會還呼吁美國同歐盟和其他盟友合作，加強對敏感半導體技術的全球出口管制，并由美國外國投資委員會(CFIUS)繼續(xù)嚴格審查中國對該行業(yè)的投資。

On the committee’s recommendation, Mr Obama last year blocked the acquisition of German chip equipment manufacturer Aixtron by Chinese investors.

根據(jù)該委員會的建議，奧巴馬去年阻止了中國投資者收購德國芯片設備制造商愛思強(Aixtron)。

The report was designed to provide an action plan for the incoming administration and to pre-empt any economic damage, said Mr Andrews.

安德魯斯表示，該報告旨在為新政府提供行動計劃，防范經(jīng)濟損失。

“This is not about protectionism, it is about fair competition,” he said. “We need to set the circumstances so the US industry continues to be the world’s leader in terms of innovation . . . If we are producing the best technologies in the world that will be incredibly important to competing in the marketplace. But we need to make sure that all of our competitors play by the rules and don’t invest in market distorting technology.”

“這不是關于保護主義，而是關于公平競爭，”他說，“我們需要確立合適環(huán)境，使美國的產(chǎn)業(yè)繼續(xù)在創(chuàng)新方面引領世界……如果我們生產(chǎn)世界上最好的技術，那對于在市場上競爭將是非常重要的。但我們需要確保所有競爭對手都遵守規(guī)則，不以扭曲市場的方式進行科技投資。”

The concern over the semiconductor industry echoes trade battles of the past. In the 1980s the Reagan administration moved against Japan over semiconductors as part of a broader effort to stem Japanese imports. Robert Lighthizer, Mr Trump’s pick for US trade representative, was one of the US’s top negotiators at the time.

對半導體行業(yè)的關注令人回想起昔日的貿易戰(zhàn)。上世紀80年代，里根政府曾在半導體領域杯葛日本，作為限制日本輸美產(chǎn)品的整體努力的一部分。特朗普提名的美國貿易代表羅伯特•萊特希澤(Robert Lighthizer)當年是美國最高談判代表之一。