王毅：中國將對貿易戰(zhàn)做出“必要反應”
The White House has announced plans for a 25 per cent tariff on steel imports, and a 10 per cent aluminium tariff, neither of which are expected to hit China hard, according to economists. 美國白宮公布了關稅方案，將對鋼鐵進口征稅25%，對鋁進口征稅10%。經濟學家稱，預計這兩者都不會對中國產生嚴重沖擊。
But the Trump administration is also expected to roll out a further series of tariffs, investment restrictions and other actions aimed directly at China when it concludes an investigation launched last year into Beijing’s intellectual property practices. 但是，當特朗普政府結束去年發(fā)起的一項針對中國知識產權慣例的調查時，預計還將推出更多直接針對中國的關稅、投資限制和其他行動。
Beijing has warned that cascading trade protectionism risks hurting the global economy, and ultimately the US as well. “A trade war is never the right solution,” Mr Wang said on Thursday, addressing a press conference during the annual session of the National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp legislature. 中國政府警告稱，不斷加劇的貿易保護主義可能會損害全球經濟，最終也會危及美國。周四，王毅在中國的橡皮圖章式立法機構全國人大(NPC)的年度會議上發(fā)言稱，“打貿易戰(zhàn)從來都不是解決問題的正確途徑。”
“The outcome will only be harmful to everyone,” he added. “結果只會損人害己，”他接著說。
Mr Wang appeared to be responding to a series of Twitter messages over several days by Mr Trump that seemed to advocate a trade war. He tweeted that “trade wars are good, and easy to win” on March 2. 王毅看來是在對幾天以來特朗普在Twitter上的一系列發(fā)言做出回應。特朗普的Twitter言論似乎是在鼓吹貿易戰(zhàn)。3月2日，特朗普發(fā)推文稱，“貿易戰(zhàn)是好事，贏得貿易戰(zhàn)很容易”。
Meanwhile on Wednesday, Mr Trump said he had asked Beijing to reduce its $375.2bn goods trade surplus with Washington by $1bn. 與此同時，特朗普于周三表示，他已要求中國政府把3752億美元的對美商品貿易順差減少10億美元。
Li Cui, an economist at CCB International, said the immediate impact of the already announced tariff hikes on steel and aluminium will be small in China: steel and aluminium account for 3 per cent of China’s total exports, and exports have been less important in recent years as a main driver of growth. “Thus the economy-wide impact is limited,” she said. 建銀國際(CCB International)經濟學家崔歷表示，美國已公布的提高鋼鐵和鋁關稅的措施對中國的影響將是很小的：鋼鐵和鋁僅占中國出口總量的3%，而作為增長主要推動因素之一的出口，近年來已變得越來越不重要。“因此，這對于中國整體經濟的影響是有限的，”她說。
Steel exports last year accounted for only 7 per cent of China’s domestic production, and the US is not a key export market. The impact on aluminium makers is likely to be larger, given the higher — about 15 per cent — US export share, Ms Li said. 去年，中國對美鋼鐵出口僅占國內產量的7%，而美國并不是一個關鍵的出口市場。崔歷表示，對鋁生產商的影響可能會更大，因為中國對美鋁出口占國內產量的比例更高，約為15%。
Meanwhile, amid signs of pushback in Washington, the Trump administration showed signs of softening its plans for sweeping new tariffs on steel and aluminium as White House officials raised the possibility that Canada, Mexico and other countries could be excluded. The shift in tone came a day after the resignation of free-trader Gary Cohn as Donald Trump’s top economic adviser. 譯者/何黎
