萊特希澤:將尋找新辦法打擊中國不公平貿易做法

Donald Trump’s pick as US Trade representative has vowed to find new ways to crack down on unfair trade practices by China, suggesting that the World Trade Organisation is ill-equipped to deal with Beijing’s industrial policy.

唐納德?特朗普(Donald Trump)提名的美國貿易代表羅伯特?萊特希澤(Robert Lighthizer)誓言，將尋找新辦法打擊中國的不公平貿易做法，並暗示世界貿易組織(WTO)沒有能力應對中國的產業政策。

Addressing a Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Robert Lighthizer said Mr Trump, who railed against China throughout last year’s presidential campaign, remained committed to getting tough with Beijing and using a “multi-faceted approach” to crack down on trade abuses.

週二，萊特希澤在參議院提名確認聽證會上講話時表示，特朗普會繼續致力於以強硬立場對待中國，並採用“多管齊下的方式”打擊貿易惡行。在去年整個總統競選期間，特朗普一直抨擊中國。

“I believe [Mr Trump] is going to change the paradigm on China and, if you look at our problems, China is right up there,” Mr Lighthizer told senators.

萊特希澤向參議員們表示：“我相信（特朗普）將換套辦法對付中國，看看我們的問題你就知道，中國就是問題所在。”

Asked how he planned to address Chinese overproduction of steel and other products, the former Reagan administration official said he believed that dealing with Beijing called for creative new US approaches outside the WTO.

在被問到他計劃如何應對中國鋼鐵及其他產品的生產過剩時，這位前里根(Reagan)政府官員表示，他認爲美國需要在WTO之外以創造性的新辦法來應對中國。

“I don’t believe that the WTO was set up to deal effectively for a country like China and their industrial policy,” he said. “We have to use the tools we have and then I think we have to . . . find a responsible way to deal with the problem by creating some new tools.”

“我不認爲WTO的設計能有效應對像中國這樣的國家和他們的產業政策。”他說，“我們必須動用我們所擁有的手段，還有我認爲我們必須……通過創造一些新的手段，找到一種可靠的方式來處理這個問題。”

Tuesday’s hearing marked the public debut of a man expected to play an important role in delivering the president’s “America First” trade agenda. It also demonstrated why many expect Mr Lighthizer to do so by testing the bounds of global trading rules.

週二的聽證會，是這位預計會在兌現特朗普“美國優先”貿易議程中發揮重要作用的人士的首次公開亮相。它還展示出，爲何有不少人預計萊特希澤會通過考驗全球貿易規則的界限來兌現這一議程。