Trade case sets China at heart of electionrace
China has moved to centre stage in the US election, with theObama administration filing a second trade complaint in as manymonths against Beijing. In both cases, the measures have beenannounced to coincide with presidential trips to the crucialswing state of Ohio.
中国已登上美国大选的“中心舞台”——奥巴马(Barack Obama)政府刚刚提起了两个多月来针对中国的第二宗贸易申诉。在这两宗申诉中，相关措施的宣布恰巧都与这位美国总统访问关键“摇摆州”俄亥俄州在同一时间。
President Barack Obama said the US had launched a case against China at the World TradeOrganisation over its export subsidies on cars and car parts, alleging they hurt US manufacturersand force them to shift production overseas.
奥巴马表示，美国已在世贸组织(WTO)对中国提起申诉，指控中国向其汽车和汽车零部件出口提供补贴。奥巴马称，这些补贴损害了美国制造商，迫使它们将生产转到海外。
The US case was filed on the same day as China launched its own WTO challenge againstWashington, alleging that it was illegally imposing anti-dumping measures on a range of its good. InJuly, also on the eve of a re-election campaign trip to Ohio, the Obama administration took the firststep in a formal trade dispute with Beijing at the WTO, challenging duties on large US cars.
就在美国提起上述申诉的同一天，中国也在WTO对美国提出申诉，指控美国对一系列进口自中国的商品非法采取反倾销措施。今年7月，同样是赴俄亥俄州展开竞选连任之旅前夕，奥巴马政府迈出了与中国在WTO上演正式贸易争端的第一步，质疑中国对进口自美国的大排量汽车所征的关税。
“You can talk a good game, or you can play one – and my experience has been waking up everysingle day doing everything I can to give American workers a fair shot in the global economy,” MrObama said at a campaign stop in Cincinnati, south-western Ohio, yesterday. “When othercountries don’t play by the rules, we’ve done something about it.”
“你可以高谈阔论，也可以脚踏实地的做事。我所做的是，每天起床后，我都会尽我所能，为美国劳动者在全球经济中争取到一个公平的机会，”奥巴马9月17日在俄亥俄州西南辛辛那提市的竞选活动中表示，“针对其他国家不遵守游戏规则的情况，我们已经采取了相应措施。”
Mitt Romney, his Republican rival, has long tried to use China’s tightly managed currency tocriticise Mr Obama for not supporting US workers, promising to declare Beijing a curren-cymanipulator on the first day of his administration.
长期以来，奥巴马的对手、共和党人米特?罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)一直在以中国受到严格管制的人民币汇率为由，批评奥巴马没有为美国劳动者提供支持。罗姆尼承诺，他就任美国总统后的第一天就会把中国列为汇率操纵国。
Mr Obama, and George W. Bush before him, dec-lined to do so, preferring to press China to allowits currency to appreciate, while engaging its leaders on economic and security issues. China’scurrency has appreciated by 19 per cent against the US dollar over the past five years – and byabout 8 per cent since Mr Obama took office in early 2009.
奥巴马及其前任小布什(George W. Bush)拒绝这样做，他们更愿意一面敦促中国让人民币升值，一面就经济和安全议题与中国领导人展开接触。过去5年里，人民币兑美元已累计升值19%，自奥巴马2009年初上任以来，人民币兑美元已累计升值8%左右。
“President Obama’s credibility on this issue has long since vanished. I will not wait until the lastmonths of my presidency to stand up to China, or do so only when votes are at stake,” MrRomney said.
罗姆尼表示：“奥巴马总统在这个问题上的可信性早已丧失。我绝不会等到我总统任期的最后几个月才向中国发起挑战，也绝不会在选情危急时才这样做。”
Mr Romney has targeted Mr Obama over his China policies in attack advertisements tailored toOhio, a manufacturing state that has battled with competition from Asia for three decades. MrObama has defended himself by pointing to trade actions against China but also by highlighting hisbailout of the US car industry, which left Washington a major shareholder in companies such asGM.
在为俄亥俄州量身定制的攻击性竞选宣传中，罗姆尼将目标对准了奥巴马的中国政策。30年来，这个制造业州一直在艰难应对来自亚洲的竞争。奥巴马为自己进行了辩护，他提到了针对中国采取的贸易措施，还强调了自己对美国汽车业的纾困，这一纾困使得美国政府成为了通用汽车(GM)等公司的大股东。
（责任编辑:admin）
