纽约时报中文网 - 中英对照版-中英中国欧盟将启动汽车关税磋商避免贸易争端升级

With billions of dollars in trade at stake, China and the European Union have agreed to engage in talks to try to resolve an escalating dispute over tariffs.

由于关系到数十亿美元的贸易，中国和欧盟同意进行谈判，试图解决不断升级的关税争端。

China’s commerce minister, Wang Wentao, and Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Union trade commissioner, will hold discussions on the European Union’s plan for tariffs on electric cars from China, the Chinese commerce ministry said late Saturday.

中国商务部周六晚间表示，部长王文涛与欧盟贸易委员瓦尔迪斯·东布罗夫斯基斯商定，将就欧盟对华电动汽车征收关税启动磋商。

Hours earlier, Robert Habeck, Germany’s vice chancellor and economic minister, said that the European Union was willing to hold consultations, and he expressed a hope that tariffs could be avoided.

在数小时前，德国副总理兼经济部部长罗伯特·哈贝克表示，欧盟愿意进行磋商，并表示希望可以避免征收关税。

This month, the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, proposed tariffs of up to 38 percent on electric cars from China, atop an existing 10 percent tariff on imported cars. The commission said it found that China’s electric car sector was heavily subsidized by the government and state-controlled banking system. China’s exports of electric vehicles pose a growing challenge to Europe’s automakers.

本月，欧盟执行机构欧盟委员会提出，将对来自中国的电动汽车在现有10%的进口关税基础上加征最高38%的关税。欧盟委员会表示，它发现中国的电动汽车行业获得了政府和国家控制的银行系统的大量补贴。中国的电动汽车出口对欧洲汽车制造商构成了越来越大的挑战。

Mr. Habeck, speaking in Shanghai after meetings in Beijing, defended the tariffs. “These tariffs are not punitive,” he said, adding that the tariffs are intended to offset subsidies that violate World Trade Organization rules.

哈贝克在上海为欧盟加征关税进行了辩护。之前，他在北京与中方举行了会晤。他说“这些关税并不是惩罚性的”，并且指出它们是为了抵消违反世界贸易组织规则的补贴。

It is unclear what a possible trade deal might look like. Executives at Volkswagen and other European automakers have called for Chinese manufacturers to build cars in Europe with European workers earning European wages, instead of importing cars from China.

目前尚不清楚双方会达成怎样的贸易协议。大众汽车和其他欧洲车企的高管呼吁中国制造商在欧洲生产汽车，聘用欧洲工人，付他们欧洲标准的薪水，而不是从中国进口汽车。

But Chinese automakers have already built dozens of electric car factories in China with what the European Union describes as extensive subsidies, and are still building more factories.

但中国汽车制造商已经在中国建立了数十家电动汽车工厂，获得了欧盟所说的大量补贴，而且仍在继续建设更多的工厂。

Before agreeing late Saturday to talks, Mr. Wang, China’s commerce minister, who had met with Mr. Habeck, accused the European Union of violating W.T.O. rules.

在周六晚些时候同意举行磋商之前，中国商务部部长王文涛在与哈贝克举行会晤时指责欧盟违反了世界贸易组织规则。

The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planning agency, said in a statement that “China will take all measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.” It added that the tariffs were inconsistent with international efforts to address climate change.

中国最高经济规划机构——国家发展和改革委员会在一份声明中表示，“中国将采取一切措施维护中国企业的合法权益，”并称这些关税与应对气候变化的国际努力不一致。

The tariffs would put Germany in a tricky position. German automakers have extensive operations in China and worry that they will be hurt by retaliatory trade actions by Beijing.

这些关税将把德国置于一个棘手的境地。德国车企在中国拥有广泛的业务，它们担心自己会受到北京政府报复性贸易行动的伤害。

On Saturday in Beijing, Mr. Habeck visited several Chinese economic ministries but did not meet with Premier Li Qiang, China’s No. 2 official. Mr. Habeck then flew to Shanghai to hold a news conference and meet with German businesses leaders there. He declined to comment on why he had not met Mr. Li, who in some ways is his counterpart.

周六，哈贝克在北京拜访了多个经济相关部委，但没有与中国二号人物国务院总理李强会面。随后，哈贝克飞往上海举行新闻发布会，并会见了上海的德企负责人。对于为何没有见到李强，他拒绝予以评论，两人在某些层面上属于对等官员。

Mr. Habeck criticized China for supplying Russia with goods that have both civilian and military applications for its war on Ukraine. China’s trade with Russia increased more than 40 percent last year, and half of the increase was related to these dual-use goods, he said.

哈贝克批评中国向俄罗斯提供用于乌克兰战争的军民两用产品。他说，去年中俄贸易增长了逾40%，其中一半与这些军民两用产品有关。

“These are technical goods that can be used on the battlefield, and this has to stop,” he said.

他说：“这些都是可以用于战场的技术产品，这种情况必须停止。”

But the focus of Mr. Habeck’s trip was the trade dispute. He visited a BMW research center in Shanghai on Sunday before heading to nearby Hangzhou, a tech hub.

但哈贝克此行的重点是贸易争端。他在周日参观了宝马上海研发中心，然后前往附近的科技中心城市杭州。

World Trade Organization rules allow tariffs intended to offset the effects of subsidies. For its part, China denies that it improperly subsidizes its electric vehicle companies and says that its leading role in the industry worldwide is a result of efficient manufacturing and innovation.

世界贸易组织的规则允许征收旨在抵消补贴影响的关税。中国方面否认对本国电动汽车企业提供不当补贴，并表示它在全球电动汽车行业的领先地位是高效制造和创新的结果。

Anticipating the tariffs, China’s commerce ministry in January took the first steps toward imposing tariffs on imports of Cognac and other wine-based spirits, produced mainly by France, one of the countries that has led calls for tariffs on China’s electric cars. On Monday, China’s commerce ministry threatened to impose tariffs on pork imports from Europe.

预计到这些关税的出台，中国商务部在1月已采取了第一步措施，对主要来自法国的干邑白兰地和其他欧洲葡萄酒烈酒的进口立案调查。法国是带头呼吁对中国的电动汽车征收关税的国家之一。周一，中国商务部威胁要对欧洲进口的猪肉征收关税。

And state-controlled media in China has reported in the past week that the Chinese auto industry is asking the commerce ministry to impose tariffs on imports of gasoline-powered cars from Europe, a move that would chiefly affect German automakers.

中国官方媒体上周报道称，中国汽车行业正要求商务部对从欧洲进口的汽油动力汽车征收关税，此举将主要影响德国汽车制造商。

Mr. Wang, the commerce minister, called on Germany to help end the European Union’s tariffs. “It is hoped that Germany will play an active role in the E.U. and promote the E.U. and China to move toward each other,” the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

商务部部长王文涛呼吁德国帮助终止欧盟的关税。“希望德方在欧盟内发挥积极作用，推动欧方与中方相向而行，”中国商务部在周六的声明中表示。

China, the world’s largest car market, has nearly halved its imports of German cars in the past five years as its domestic automakers have become increasingly competitive. China’s car companies dominate the worldwide production of electric and plug-in hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles, which now nearly match sales of gasoline-powered cars in China.

中国是全球最大的汽车市场，随着国内车企的竞争力日益增强，中国在过去五年从德国进口的汽车数量减少了近一半。中国车企主导着全球电动和插电式油电混合动力汽车的生产，目前这两种汽车在中国的销量几乎与汽油动力汽车的销量相当。

But many of China’s wealthiest customers still covet German brands. Mercedes sells more of its most luxurious cars, German-built Maybachs, in China than in the rest of the world combined.

但许多中国最富有的消费者仍然热衷德国品牌。梅赛德斯在中国销售的最豪华汽车——在德国生产的迈巴赫，销量超过了全球其他地区的总和。

German automakers also have joint ventures with Chinese companies to assemble cars in China. Volkswagen is making further large investments in manufacturing and engineering in China while beginning to cut staff in Germany.

德国车企还与中国车企公司建立合资企业，在中国组装汽车。大众汽车正在进一步加大在中国的制造和工程投资，同时在德国开始裁员。

Germany is crucial to China’s efforts to stop the new European tariffs from being finalized this fall. That was also the case the last time that China and Europe engaged in a major trade dispute.

德国对于中国阻止今年秋天最终敲定欧洲新关税的努力至关重要。中欧上一次发生重大贸易争端时，情况也是如此。

In 2013, under pressure from China, Germany rallied European governments to overturn proposed European Commission tariffs on solar panels from China. Chinese solar panel manufacturers quickly swamped Europe, and the European industry collapsed.

2013年，在中国的压力下，德国召集欧洲各国政府推翻了欧盟委员会对中国太阳能电池板征收关税的提议。中国太阳能电池板制造商迅速涌入欧洲市场，导致欧洲相关产业的崩溃。

Leaders in Europe pushing for tariffs on China’s electric vehicles argue that Europe’s car industry now faces a similarly dire threat.

推动对中国电动汽车征收关税的欧洲领导人认为，欧洲的汽车工业现在面临着类似的严峻威胁。

To block the tariffs, Beijing would need to persuade a majority of European Union countries, representing at least 65 percent of the bloc’s population, to overrule the European Commission.

要阻止这些关税，北京需要说服占欧盟人口至少65%的大多数欧盟国家否决欧盟委员会的决定。

In its response to Europe’s tariffs, China is expected to target key countries, analysts said.

分析人士表示，在对欧洲关税的回应中，中国预计将瞄准关键国家。

Possible tariffs on gasoline-powered cars would hit Germany, the bloc’s most populous country, with 19 percent of the union’s people. Italy is third in population and it, too, exports luxury gasoline-powered vehicles to China — Ferrari and Lamborghini sports cars.

对汽油动力汽车可能征收的关税将打击德国，它是欧盟人口最多的国家，占欧盟的19%。向中国出口法拉利和兰博基尼跑车等豪华汽油动力汽车的意大利排在第三。

France is Europe’s second-most populous country, and China’s potential Cognac tariffs are aimed at one of its national symbols.

法国是欧洲人口第二多的国家，中国可能对干邑征收的关税针对的是法国的国家象征之一。

Spain, the fourth-most populous country in Europe, is the leading European exporter of pork to China, a product Beijing has also threatened to penalize.

西班牙是欧洲人口排名第四的国家，也是向中国出口猪肉最多的欧洲国家，北京方面也威胁要对这一产品征收关税。

Beijing allowed German automakers, led by Volkswagen, to open car factories with Chinese manufacturers in the 1980s, bypassing China’s 100 percent tariffs then on imported cars. China cut tariffs on imported cars to 25 percent in the years after it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, and in 2018 further reduced tariffs on most imported cars to 15 percent in a move to ease trade tensions with the United States during the Trump administration.

上世纪80年代，北京允许以大众汽车为首的德国车企与中国车企合资建厂，绕开了当时中国对进口汽车征收的100%关税。在2001年加入世界贸易组织后的几年里，中国将进口汽车的关税降至25%，并在2018年进一步将大多数进口汽车的关税降至15%，此举是为了缓解特朗普时代中美贸易紧张关系。

In addition to the 15 percent tariff, China also collects a 10 percent tax from buyers of gasoline-powered cars. Cars and sport utility vehicles with very large gasoline engines, which are mainly imported, pay an additional tax of 40 percent.

除了15%的关税外，中国还向汽油动力汽车的购买者征收10%的税。配备大排量发动机的轿车和SUV主要来自进口，对它们要额外征收40%的税。