【基箴报111013】 为什么人民币汇率法案让共和党如此纠结

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【中文标题】为什么人民币汇率法案让共和党如此纠结

【原文标题】Why China 'trade war' bill is tying House Republicans in knots

【登载媒体】美联社

【来源地址】http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2011/1013/Why-China-trade-war-bill-is-tying-House-Republicans-in-knots

【译    者】sophie1125

【翻译方式】人工

【声    明】欢迎转载，请务必注明译者和出处 bbs.m4.cn。

【译    文】
House Republicans are blocking a vote on a bill to punish China for currency manipulation. Leaders say it could unleash a trade war, but many rank and file want to take China to task.
众议院共和党正在阻挠《2011年货币汇率监督改革法案》的表决。共和党领导人表示这将引发中美贸易战，然而许多人想让中国当替罪羊。


House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington Thursday. He has so far refused to allow a vote on a China trade bill, saying it will set off a trade war.
俄亥俄州众议院议长约翰博纳在一个星期四在华盛顿国会山的新闻发布会上讲话。他至今仍拒绝通过在中国的贸易法案进行表决，他认为这将掀起一场贸易战。


Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP 美联社

Washington 华盛顿


The bill to punish China for manipulating its currency – and allegedly stealing American jobs – is setting off a clash within Republican ranks on Capitol Hill.
这项以制裁中国操纵人民币汇率和涉嫌窃取美国的就业机会的法案在在美国国会共和党内部引发分歧。


The bill, which would impose tariffs on Chinese goods, has already passed the Senate with bipartisan support and would likely pass the House if brought to the floor. But so far, House Speaker John Boehner refused to do so.
该法案一旦通过，美国便可对中国进口产品进行关税制裁，现在它已经获得了参议院两党的支持，并极有可能通过众议院的表决，但到目前为止，众议院议长约翰博纳拒绝这样做。


With multinational corporations and conservative antitax groups – key Republican constituencies – opposed to the bill, Mr. Boehner has been loath to let it see the light of day, given that it could be vetoed by President Obama anyway.
共和党派的关键选区跨国公司和保守反税收团体都表示反对这项法案，博纳先生也一直不愿意让它有出头之日，奥巴马总统对此法案也不支持。


But pressure on Boehner is mounting. Lawmakers representing states hardest hit by the rise of Chinese manufacturing want to go on the record supporting the bill, and GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has taken a stand on China currency even more aggressive than the Senate bill.
但博纳的压力日益加剧，受中国制造业崛起影响最严重的的州议员代表要继续支持这项法案，而共和党最有希望的总统候选人罗姆尼面对中国人民币的立场比该法案更加激进。


Boehner has called the measure “very dangerous.” His concern is that raising tariffs on Chinese goods could spark a damaging trade war at a time when the economy is ill-suited to absorb another blow.
博纳称该法案是“十分危险的”。他担心的是提高中国商品的关税可能会引发一场破坏性的贸易战，而此时的美国经济已经再禁不起打击。

“I have made my position pretty clear that I’ve got grave concerns about this bill,” he added at a briefing on Wednesday. For Congress to act now “poses a very severe risk of a trade war and unintended consequences that could come as a result.”
“我的立场十分明确，对这项法案我也十分关注，”他在周三的发布会上补充道。国会现在就采取行动会“将冒着引发一场十分严重的贸易战及不可预知的后果的风险。”


Boehner is asking the president to stick his neck out and clarify whether he would veto the bill. “It’s time for the president to lead,” he said.
博纳正要求总统坚定他的立场，并表明会否决该项法案。“这该是总统做主的时候了。”他说。


China's manipulation of its currency has long angered Washington. But the current jobs crisis has given the issue added impetus. Backers of the bill say that, by keeping the value of its currency artificially low, China gives its goods as much as a 30 percent price edge in US markets and a comparable disadvantage for American goods in China. The Senate bill would authorize economic sanctions if a trading partner is found to be maintaining its currency at an artificially low level to gain a trade advantage.
中国对人民币汇率的操纵早已惹恼美国，而目前的就业危机进一步推动了这个问题。该法案的支持者说，中国人为的使人民币汇率保持在较低水平，使其商品在美国市场上拥有将近30%的价格优势，与之相媲美的是在中国销售的美国产品价格劣势。参议院通过的这项法案将批准美国政府对贸易伙伴通过人为压低本国货币汇率以获得贸易优势的国家进行经济制裁。


China has already signaled its displeasure. It let the value of its currency sink for the second day in a row on Thursday – a move analysts interpret as a rebuff of the Senate vote.
中方对此已表示不满。这使人民币汇率到周四为止已有两天连续下降，这一行为被分析师是为对参议院表决的回击。

For their part, major US corporations are also worried.
对他们来说，美国的大企业也对此很担忧。


“The American companies who have become invested in China don’t want change,” says Peter Morici, former chief economist at the US International Trade Commission and a professor at the University of Maryland.
“已经在中国投资的美国公司并不想改变现状，”美国国际贸易委员会前首席经济学家，现任马里兰大学教授的彼得 -莫里奇说道。


“American companies like GE and Caterpillar, who have outsourced American jobs and corporate functions to China and are now clients of Beijing’s protectionism, have convinced President Obama the China currency bill is protectionist and would start a trade war,” he adds.
“像通用电气公司和卡特彼勒这样在中国外包美国的就业和企业职能的美国公司，现在是北京保护主义的客户。他们说服了奥巴马总统这项关于中国货币法案是贸易保护主义，这将引起贸易战”他补充说。


Technically, the bill has already come to the House floor for a vote. But Democrats brought it up via a highly partisan legislative procedure that would have also forced Republicans to vote against a popular trade bill with Colombia, so the motion failed. But GOP senators are pushing House Republicans to take up the bill themselves.
从技术上讲，该法案已经在国会会议上表决通过。但是民主党通过高度的党派立法程序使得共和党被迫与哥伦比亚反对一项受欢迎的贸易法案，因此这项议案失败了。但共和党参议员本身极力推崇众议院共和党人实施这项法案。

“You’re miscalculating where the country is on this issue,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) of South Carolina, in remarks addressing House Republicans at a briefing on Wednesday. South Carolina has lost some 41,800 jobs due to trade with China since 2001, according to a recent report by the Economic Policy Institute.
南卡罗来纳州参议员格雷厄姆（R）在周三的一个简报会上谈论处理众议院共和党时说道，“在这个问题上你们选错了国家。”根据一个经济政策研究所最近的一份报告显示，自2001年与中国贸易以来，南卡罗来纳州已经因此失去了约41800个就业机会。


A critical mass of House Republicans are on record supporting the aims of the Senate bill. A similar House measure attracted 63 Republican sponsors, despite opposition from House GOP leaders. Overall, the bill has 225 sponsors – enough to pass the bill.
众议院共和党的主要成员是支持参议院法案的目的的，尽管共和党的领导人是反对的，但一个相类似的措施吸引了63个共和党的支持者。总体而言，该法案有225支持者 - 足以通过该法案。


In 2010, when the House was in Democratic hands, 99 Republicans voted to back a similar bill, which passed, 348 to 79, but was never taken up by the Senate.
2010年，当时众议院在民主党手中，99个共和党人投票给一个类似的议案，以348比79票通过，但却从未给参议院经手。


Supporters say that if a currency vote is to occur in the House this time, it’s going to require action on the presidential level – or a stronger push from public opinion. If Obama commits to signing the bill, it puts renewed pressure on House GOP leaders.
支持者们认为这次国会的货币法案表决，则需要总统出面，或者是强烈舆论的推动。如果奥巴马承诺签署该法案，将再度给共和党领导人带来压力。


At the same time, should former Massachusetts Governor Romney pick up momentum in the GOP primary, his outspoken stands on China trade could also have more sway with House Republicans.
与此同时，前马萨诸塞州州长罗姆尼拿出共和党主的气势，他直言中国的贸易和共和党有更大的控制力。

In his economic plan, released Sept. 5, Romney called for confronting China on trade abuses. He pledges on Day 1 to issue an executive order listing China as a currency manipulator and directing the Department of Commerce to assess countervailing duties on Chinese imports, if China does not quickly move to float its currency.
9月5号公布的罗姆尼的经济计划中，他呼吁要在贸易侵略上直面中国。他承诺如果中国没有尽快行动起来调整汇率，他会马上发出行政命令把中国列为汇率操国，并使商务部去评估对中国的进口商品征收反补贴税。


“I'm afraid that people who've looked at this in the past have been played like a fiddle by the Chinese,” said Romney at a presidential debate in Hanover, N.H., on Tuesday. “And the Chinese are smiling all the way to the bank, taking our currency and taking our jobs and taking a lot of our future. And I'm not willing to let that happen.”
“我担心过去看过这个的人们会被中国人耍得团团转，”罗姆尼周二在新罕布什尔州汉诺威的总统候选人辩论赛上讲到，“中国人笑着走向银行，讨论我们的货币，我们的工作甚至我们的未来。这些都不是我想看到的。”

“Governor Romney last night couldn’t have been clearer,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) of Alabama, a Senate sponsor of the China currency bill. “I was very pleased with what he said.”
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R)是阿拉巴马州的参议员，也是参议院“中国货币法案”的支持者说：“罗姆尼州长昨晚已经说的很明白了，我很高兴他能这么说。”

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