精英們別傻了 美國一樣愛搞保護主義

Siemens sweetened its bid for Alstom’s energy unitsMonday in an effort to finally woo not only the company, but also, more importantly, French officials.

週一，西門子（Siemens ）提高了對阿爾斯通（Alstom）能源業務的報價，目的不光是要打動這家公司，更重要的是還要打動法國政府。

Lawmakers in the European country have been meddling in the deal to get the best outcome for French interests, including promises of jobs, research centers and turbines for nuclear plants.

法國國會議員一直在干預這項交易，目的是爲法國爭取最大的利益，包括讓西門子在工作機會、研究中心以及核電站汽輪機問題上做出承諾。

But the French aren’t the only officials putting pressure on global corporate deals this year.

不過，今年對國際性企業活動施加壓力的並不是只有法國政府。

The U.K. parliament pressured Pfizer for employment promises on top of its $117 billion AstraZeneca bid. And the U.S. has reportedly threatened BNP Paribas with fines as high as $10 billion for business dealings in Iran.

在輝瑞（Pfizer）斥資1170億美元收購阿斯利康（AstraZeneca）的過程中，英國議會迫使輝瑞在就業機會方面做出了承諾。據報道，美國政府已經威脅要對法國巴黎銀行（BNP Paribas）處以高達100億美元的罰款，原因是後者在伊朗進行經營活動。

Political interference in business deals is not new. Consider, for example, the European Commission’s vetoing of the Honeywell-GE merger in 2001, or Italian gas-company Enel’s thwarted interest in Suez’s Belgian unit in 2006.

政治對企業活動施加干預並不新鮮。想想看，2001年歐盟委員會（European Commission）否決了霍尼韋爾（Honeywell）和通用電氣（GE）的合併計劃，意大利國家電力公司（Enel）2006年入股蘇伊士集團（Suez）比利時子公司的計劃同樣受阻。

The U.S. likes to think of itself as the bastion of free market capitalism. President Obama has recently touted the nation’s freedom from interference:

美國喜歡把自己視爲自由市場資本主義的大本營。奧巴馬總統最近還在鼓吹美國的自由不受限制：

“I do not tell the Attorney General how to prosecute cases that have been brought. I have communicated that to President Hollande,” said President Obama in response to French pressure to intervene in U.S. threats to fine BNP Paribas over alleged business dealings in Iran.

由於美國政府指責法國巴黎銀行在伊朗開展業務並威脅要處以罰款，法國方面也插手了這件事，同時對美國施壓。對此，奧巴馬總統迴應道：“我並沒有告訴司法部長怎樣就這些已經出現的案件提起訴訟。我已經就此和奧朗德總統進行了溝通。”

“Perhaps it is a different position to those taken in different countries,” he added.

奧巴馬總統還說：“在不同的國家，人們的立場可能不同。”

The truth is, meddling isn’t the sole expertise of our European brethren. Dabbling, or whatever euphemism one might prefer, is justified under a series of all-American policies.

真相是，實施干預並非歐洲兄弟的獨有技能。按照一系列“純”美國政策，涉足，或者用人們喜歡的任何其他委婉叫法，都是合理行爲。

The practice of corporate reprimanding started with the Helms-Burton act of 1996. The act gave the U.S. government the freedom to officially punish foreign companies doing business with Cuba, setting the standard that would extend to other country-specific embargoes. These U.S. restrictions ended up extending internationally because of the size and economic might of American industry.

對企業行爲加以斥責的做法始於1996年的《赫爾姆斯－伯頓法》（Helms-Burton Act）。這項法案讓美國政府可以自由地對和古巴做生意的公司施加官方懲罰，同時爲針對其他國家的禁令設定了標準。由於美國企業的規模和經濟實力，這些禁令最終產生了國際性的影響。

“U.S. has a sense that we are the global policeman,” said Joseph Minarik, the director of research for the Committee for Economic Development. “We have the whistle.”

美國經濟發展委員會（Committee for Economic Development）研究負責人約瑟夫o米納裏克說：“美國覺得自己是世界警察，有責任警告別人。”

Despite President Obama’s lofty, high-minded statements that America is the land of free enterprise, our hand has fallen heavily on deals that either threaten U.S. industrial strength or its military capabilities.

雖然美國總統奧巴馬冠冕堂皇地宣稱美國是自由企業的國度，但對於威脅美國工業實力或軍事能力的企業活動，美國政府總是出重拳予以打擊。

This, most famously, happened when state-owned China National Offshore Oil Co., or CNOOC, bid $18.5 billion to buy oil-producer Unocal in 2005. The deal faced fierce political opposition and countless Congressional debates, and lawmakers voiced fear that Chinese ownership of a U.S. oil company would endanger national energy supplies and stymy industrial production.

這方面最著名的事例莫過於中國國有企業中海油（China National Offshore Oil Co.）於2005年出價185億美元收購美國石油公司加州聯合石油（Unocal）。這項收購遇了巨大的政治阻力，美國國會就此展開了無休止的辯論。議員們擔心，中國企業擁有一家美國石油公司會威脅到美國的能源供應，同時還會影響美國的工業生產。

The protectionism worked. CNOOC dropped its bid, and San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron paid a discounted $17 billion to win over Unocal. The crown jewel remained stateside.

這種保護主義起了作用。中海油最後放棄了這次收購，而總部設在加州聖拉蒙的雪佛龍（Chevron）以170億美元的折扣價勝出。皇冠上的明珠仍然屬於美國。

CNOOC’s response nine years ago: “This political environment has made it very difficult for us to accurately assess our chance of success.”

9年前，中海油對此事評價道：“這種政治環境給我們精確地評估成功的機率帶來了非常大的困難。”

Despite the American rhetoric of free-wheeling buying and selling, protectionism, whenever it is convenient, appears to be traditional U.S. policy.

儘管美國鼓吹自由買賣，但只要合適，保護主義看來就會成爲美國的傳統政策。

“Even a laissez-faire government is going to have a debate about industrial policy if one of its crown jewels is going to be sold to a foreign country,” said Sebastian Mallaby, director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. “And those motives will vary by political culture.”

“如果一個國家皇冠上的明珠即將被賣給別的國家，就連自由主義政府也會就產業政策展開辯論，”美國外交關係協會（Council on Foreign Relations）莫里斯o格林伯格地緣經濟研究中心（Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies）主任塞巴斯蒂安o馬拉比說。“不過，背後的動機會因爲政治文化的影響而出現差異。”