对华关税重估 美政府应秉持客观理性态度

Washington waging long-term trade attack

5月25日，商务部部长王文涛在赴美国参加亚太经合组织贸易部长会议期间，在华盛顿会见美国商务部长雷蒙多。双方同意建立沟通渠道，就具体经贸关切和合作事项保持和加强交流。

Were it not for US Deputy Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi's interview with Reuters after the "Indo-Pacific" Economic Framework for Prosperity talks wrapped up in Detroit, Michigan, on Saturday, the statutory four-year review of the previous Donald Trump administration's initial tariff actions and their subsequent modifications by the Joe Biden administration might have passed under the public radar.

5月27日，“印太经济框架”部长级会议在美国密歇根州底特律举行。会议结束后，若不是美国副贸易代表比安奇接受路透社采访时的讲话，美国贸易代表办公室正在评估对华关税一事或许就不会受到公众关注。自特朗普政府时期，美国开始对华加征关税，有效期为四年，此后拜登政府对方案进行了调整。

That to some extent shows that the US society, including the parties suffering from the tariffs, have given up hope of any suspension of the tariffs, particularly as the inflation in the United States that prompted the Biden administration to consider adjusting the tariffs last year has now eased.

这在一定程度上表明，包括关税受害方在内的美国社会已经放弃了暂停征收关税的希望，特别是去年促使拜登政府考虑调整对华关税的通货膨胀压力目前已经缓解。

Bianchi's remarks on the Office of the US Trade Representative's review of whether to keep the tariffs on Chinese goods in place reinforced that judgment. "We are conducting the review from an analytical perspective. We're not base-casing any breakthrough in the trade relationship. We're not assuming that that will happen."

比安奇针对美国贸易代表办公室就是否继续对中国商品征收关税进行评估发表的言论，强化了这一判断。“美国正在分析评估这件事，不会将结果建立在美中贸易关系取得任何突破的基础之上。我们并不认为那种情况会发生。”

Moreover, the deputy trade representative, who oversees trade engagement with Asia, added that the USTR is continuing to study industry and stakeholder comments on the duties and consulting with the US Commerce Department, the Treasury and other agencies to determine which categories make strategic sense, hinting that more imports from China might be added to the tariffs.

此外，美国副贸易代表比安奇补充说，美国贸易代表办公室正在继续研究行业和利益相关者对关税的评论，并与美国商务部、财政部和其他机构协商，以确定哪些贸易类别具有战略意义，这暗示可能会将更多来自中国的进口产品添加到关税清单中。

The tariffs on thousands of imports from China, valued at around $370 billion at the time, were imposed by the Trump administration in 2018 and 2019 as a bargaining chip for its trade talks with Beijing.

2018年和2019年，特朗普政府决定对当时价值约3700亿美元的数千种中国商品加征关税，作为与中国进行贸易谈判的筹码。

After passing the inflation pressure test — with much of the cost of the tariffs having been passed on to US consumers and businesses — and with no intention of mending ties with Beijing, the Biden administration sees no reason not to keep the tariffs in place. With its blacklist sanctions precisely targeting China's high-tech sectors, the tariffs are being used to hurt China's lower-end manufacturing industries.

由于通过了通胀压力测试——关税的大部分成本已转嫁给美国消费者和企业，且无意修复与北京方面的关系，拜登政府认为没有理由取消对华关税。由于黑名单制裁针对的是中国的高科技行业，加征关税正被用来打击中国的低端制造业。

Bianchi's remarks came just two days after Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao raised objections against the tariffs as an issue of concern during a meeting with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai in Detroit on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation trade meeting on Thursday, the first Cabinet-level exchanges between Washington and Beijing in months.

就在比安奇发表上述言论两天前，5月26日，中国商务部部长王文涛在美国底特律参加亚太经合组织贸易部长会议期间，会见了美国贸易代表戴琪。王文涛对关税问题提出关切，反对继续征收对华关税。

Considering that the duties are viewed by the Biden administration as "significant leverage" over China and that Congress has delegated much of its tariff authority to the president, so as to avoid censure by a few vocal industries, the so-called importance and necessity of maintaining such "conversations" between the two sides highlighted by Bianchi in her interview is questionable for Beijing.

考虑到拜登政府将关税视为对华关系的“重要杠杆”，而且美国国会为了避免一些提出抗议的行业的指责，已经将大部分征收关税的权力授予给了总统，比安奇在采访中强调的所谓中美双方保持这种“对话”的重要性和必要性，对中国来说是值得怀疑的。

来源：中国日报