中國成美國參議院TPP爭論核心

WASHingTON — A heated dispute over how to challenge China on currency policy has imperiled a trade bill that has become President Obama’s top legislative priority, uniting even the president’s top Democratic supporters against taking up the bill in the Senate.

華盛頓——圍繞如何在貨幣政策上挑戰中國的激烈爭論，威脅到了一項已經是奧巴馬總統立法重頭戲的貿易法案，連總統在民主黨的高層支持者都聯合起來，反對在參議院考慮該法案。

Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, vowed to press forward with a vote Tuesday afternoon to begin debating legislation granting the president “fast-track” negotiating authority to complete a major trade deal with 11 Pacific Rim nations. But Democrats say they will filibuster the measure unless it is combined with a separate customs enforcement bill that would crack down on currency manipulation.

來自肯塔基州的共和黨人、參議院多數黨領袖米奇·麥康奈爾(Mitch McConnell)誓稱要推動在週二下午舉行投票，開始討論爲與11個太平洋沿岸國家達成一項重要的貿易協議，而授予總統“快速通道”談判權的法律。但民主黨稱，他們會對該法案採取拖延戰術，除非它與另外一項打擊貨幣操縱行爲的海關執法法案結合在一起。

Both sides say the vote will be close, but absent a breakthrough in negotiations, the 60-vote threshold will be difficult to meet. At the root of the dispute is China, which is not even a party to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade agreement Mr. Obama hopes to make a capstone of his administration.

雙方皆表示表決結果會頗爲接近，但鑑於談判未取得突破，60票支持的門檻將難以達到。爭論的根源，是甚至都不是跨太平洋夥伴關係協定（Trans Pacific Partnership，簡稱TPP）成員的中國。奧巴馬希望，該貿易協議能成爲他領導的政府的最高成就。

Voting to proceed to the measure on trade promotion “is saying this bill is worthy of debate,” Mr. McConnell pleaded on the Senate floor Monday, promising that senators could add amendments.

投票表決以便繼續這項貿易推動議案，“意味着這項法案值得討論”，麥康奈爾週一在參議院表示，承諾參議員會添加修訂內容。

But opponents sensed the momentum was on their side.

但反對者感覺到形勢正在向他們一方傾斜。

“We’re going to win,” said Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, who has led the effort to demand trade promotion authority be considered only with other measures on trade enforcement and assistance for workers dislocated by trade accords.

“我們會贏，”來自俄亥俄州的民主黨參議員謝羅德·布朗(Sherrod Brown)說。布朗領導了一項行動，要求只有和被貿易協議擾亂了的貿易執法及勞工援助法案在一起時，才考慮貿易促進權。

The customs bill in question has created a stew of conflict over issues as varied as child labor and enforcement of import duties. Candy makers want to preserve a loophole — closed in the customs bill — that allows them to import African cocoa harvested by child labor. Automakers are demanding the inclusion of a tough measure allowing companies to challenge trading partners that they say artificially depress the value of their currency to raise the price of American imports and lower the cost of their exports.

正在考慮中的海關法案，在童工和進口關稅徵收等一衆問題上引發了衝突。糖果製造商想保留一個漏洞。該漏洞允許他們進口由童工收穫的非洲可可粉，但海關法案將這個漏洞堵上了。汽車製造商要求加入一項嚴厲的措施，允許他們挑戰貿易伙伴。他們稱，相關貿易伙伴在人爲壓低自己國家貨幣的價值，以提升美國進口商品的價格，降低自己的出口成本。

Republicans accuse Democrats of reneging on their promise to move forward on trade promotion authority on the condition that it is linked only with a measure expanding assistance to workers displaced by economic globalization. Democrats say Republicans coaxed them into putting their most desired trade measures into a bill that is now being dumped.

共和黨指責民主黨食言。民主黨曾承諾推動貿易促進權，條件只是和一項法案捆綁在一起。該法案的內容是擴大對那些因經濟全球化而無家可歸的工人的援助。民主黨稱，共和黨誘騙他們將最渴望的貿易措施寫進了一項正在被扔下的法案裏。

Trade promotion authority would give allow the president to complete the Pacific deal, knowing that any final accord could still be voted down by Congress but could not be amended. Mr. Obama has repeatedly framed the Pacific accord as a way to counter China’s rising power in Asia, giving countries like Malaysia, Brunei, Japan, Singapore and Vietnam an economic alliance that would be a counterweight to China’s increasingly assertive policies in the region.

任何最終協定都有可能被國會否決，且無法進行修訂，有鑑於此，貿易促進權將讓總統可以完成跨太平洋協定。奧巴馬多次強調，面對中國在亞洲的實力日漸崛起，跨太平洋協定將是一種反制，能讓馬來西亞、文萊、日本、新加坡和越南等國結成經濟聯盟，制衡中國在該地區越來越強勢的政策。

But a bipartisan coalition, including Mr. Brown, and Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, is challenging the administration to do far more.

但包括布朗和來自南卡羅來納州的共和黨參議員林賽·格雷厄姆(Lindsey Graham)在內的兩黨聯盟，正在要求奧巴馬政府做出更多努力。

“If the White House and our foreign policy community were so interested in dealing with China, we would have been much more aggressive in passing a currency bill that would allow us to go toe to toe on these issues,” Mr. Brown said. “We’re doing none of that.”

“如果白宮和外交政策界真的對應對中國這麼感興趣，我們就應該更強硬地通過一項貨幣法案，讓我們得以在這些問題上針鋒相對，”布朗說。“但我們現在什麼都沒做。”

The coalition has told the White House there will be no trade promotion authority bill without a provision aimed at China’s currency policies.

該聯盟告訴白宮，如果不制定針對中國貨幣政策的規定，貿易促進權法案就不會獲得通過。

“I have said to them for three to four months, if you do currency alongside T.P.A. but at same time, it would help your cause,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York.

紐約州民主黨參議員查爾斯·E·舒默(Charles E. Schumer)表示，“我在過去三到四個月的時間裏一直在跟他們說，如果把貿易促進權與貨幣政策捆綁在一起，但是是同時，會有助於你們達成目標。”

But senior administration officials remain opposed to the senators’ solution, a measure that would require the Commerce Department to investigate currency policy after a complaint is filed, then impose duties to raise the cost of an imported good to counter currency manipulation.

但高級政府官員依然反對參議員們提出的解決方案，這項法案會要求商務部(Commerce Department)在收到投訴後對貨幣政策開展調查，然後徵稅，增加進口商品的成本，抑制匯率操縱行爲。

Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker called it “a terrible idea,” even though it would bolster the authority of her cabinet agency.

商務部長彭妮·普利茨克(Penny Pritzker)稱這是一個“糟糕的主意”，儘管這會鞏固其內閣機構的權力。

“There’s one authority over our currency,” she said. “We should strengthen Treasury. We should not dilute this by having more than one department responsible for currency.”

“我們有一個負責貨幣政策的權力機構，”她說。“我們應該加強財政部的權力。我們不應該設置更多負責貨幣政策的部門，削弱財政部的權力。”

Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said any measure to counter a foreign power’s currency policies could backfire, undermining the Federal Reserve Board, which uses the flow of currency to tighten or loosen economic growth in the United States.

白宮新聞發言人喬希·歐內斯特(Josh Earnest)表示，任何針對外國貨幣政策的法案都會產生事與願違的效果，削弱聯邦儲備委員會(Federal Reserve Board)的權力，美聯儲利用貨幣流量收緊或放寬美國的經濟增長。

More to the point, Republicans say, a tough currency measure attached to trade promotion authority would doom the Pacific trade accord, scaring away important countries like Japan and Malaysia in a misguided jab at China.

共和黨人表示，更重要的是，與推動貿易促進權進行捆綁的強硬的貨幣政策，會影響亞太貿易協定的簽訂，這種對中國的打擊是不得要領的，會將日本、馬來西亞等重要國家嚇跑。

“Is the goal to get T.P.A. done, or is it to crush the president’s trade agenda?” asked a Republican aide on the Senate Finance Committee.

參議院財政委員會(Senate Finance Committee)的一名共和黨助手問道，“目標是獲得貿易促進權，還是破壞總統的貿易議程呢？”

The customs bill in question is multifaceted. Besides the currency measure, it includes the creation of an interagency trade enforcement center and a system to respond faster to unfair trade practices like the dumping of exports at prices below the cost of production. Another provision would require the Customs and Border Protection agency to expeditiously investigate allegations of customs duty evasion. Still another would close a 75-year-old loophole that allows the importation of goods made by child labor if a company cannot find those goods elsewhere.

正在討論中的海關法案是一項多層面的法案。除了貨幣舉措，該法案還要求創建一個跨部門貿易執法中心和對不公平交易行爲立即作出迴應的系統，比如以低於生產成本的價格出口產品的傾銷行爲。另一項規定會要求聯邦海關與邊境保護局(Customs and Border Protection agency)立即對逃稅指控開展調查。還有一項規定會要求修補存在了75年的漏洞，即允許進口由童工生產的產品，如果公司無法從其他地方獲得商品的話。

Candy makers are opposing that last provision on the novel ground that it would kill Ghana’s cocoa trade.

糖果生產商提出了一個新奇的理由反對最後一項規定，稱這會毀掉與加納的可可豆交易。

But as the trade legislation becomes more complex, so does the task of winning approval. Outside conservative groups like Heritage Action for America, the political arm of the Heritage Foundation, have generally stayed quiet on trade promotion authority, torn between their support for free trade and their distrust of Mr. Obama. Now they are encouraging opposition if trade promotion authority is linked to trade adjustment assistance, which they oppose as a waste of federal tax dollars.

但隨着這項貿易立法變得越來越複雜，促使法案獲得通過的任務也變得愈發複雜。美國遺產行動(Heritage Action for America)——美國傳統基金會(Heritage Foundation)的政治部門——等外部的保守派組織通常在貿易促進權問題上保持沉默，左右爲難，一邊支持自由貿易，一邊又不信任奧巴馬。如果將貿易促進權與貿易調整援助計劃捆綁在一起，他們會鼓動大家反對，他們反對該援助計劃，稱這是在浪費納稅人的錢。

“Heritage Action has always been a free trade organization, but free-market conservatives are understandably split on this president’s request for fast-track authority. Including an egregiously ineffective welfare program in a bill intended to promote trade will only exacerbate the problem,” Michael A. Needham, the group’s chief executive said Monday.

該組織總幹事邁克爾·A·尼達姆(Michael A. Needham)在週一表示，“遺產行動組織一直是一個自由貿易組織，但支持自由市場的保守派，在總統要求獲得快速通道授權的問題上出現了分歧，這是可以理解的。將一個極其無效的福利項目納入旨在推動貿易的法案，只會加劇問題。”

If Democrats bring down the procedural motion to proceed to trade, both sides say that is not likely to be the last word. Negotiations have already begun on a broader trade bill that could include some currency provision, perhaps weaker than the one in the disputed customs measure.

如果民主黨人否決這項程序動議，以便繼續開展貿易的話，雙方都表示這不可能是定論。相關方面已經就一項更加廣泛的貿易法案開展談判，其中包括一些與貨幣有關的規定，這些規定的力度或許不及存在爭議的海關法案。