歐盟醞釀有條件給予中國市場經濟地位

Brussels is drawing up a plan to treat China as a market economy in trade disputes, but only in tandem with US-style antidumping duties and big cuts to steel overproduction.

布魯塞爾正在制定一項計劃，擬在貿易爭端中把中國視爲市場經濟體，但須與美國式的反傾銷稅和大幅削減鋼鐵過剩生產相關聯。

The European Commission is seeking a middle way between China’s clamour to be treated the same as advanced economies and complaints from EU member states and industrial groups about surging steel imports.

一方面是中國強烈要求獲得與發達經濟體一樣的對待，另一方面是歐盟成員國政府及工業集團抱怨進口鋼材飆升，在這種情況下歐盟委員會(European Commission)正在尋求一條中間路線。

China says it is entitled to obtain market economy status at the end of the year under World Trade Organisation rules. Supporters of the move, including the UK, say awarding the status would boost investment.

中國表示，按照世界貿易組織(WTO)規則，它有資格在今年底獲得市場經濟地位。此舉的支持者（包括英國）表示，給予中國這一地位將促進投資。

But EU governments and Washington fear that such a move would open the floodgates for ultra-cheap imports. The commission needs to strike a compromise because Europe’s antidumping laws are tied to a WTO protocol on China that expires in December.

但歐盟各國政府和華盛頓方面擔心，此舉將打開超低價進口的閘門。歐盟委員會需要達成一個妥協，因爲歐洲的反傾銷法律與世貿組織有關中國的一項協議掛鉤，而該協議將在12月失效。

A plan being discussed in Brussels today stresses links between China’s status, overcapacity and moves to strengthen Europe’s trade defences.

布魯塞爾今日討論的一項計劃強調將中國的地位、產能過剩問題以及加強歐洲貿易防禦的行動聯繫起來。

The measures include powers for Brussels to impose very high import duties in cases of exceptional overproduction, and grandfathering rights to pursue antidumping cases already in train under the old rules.

相關措施包括布魯塞爾有權在極端產能過剩的情況下開徵很高的進口關稅，以及延續按照舊規則已經具備的發起反傾銷案的權利。

While European manufacturers campaign against granting China a “licence to dump”, the commission’s plan is to toughen penalties and avoid any weakening of antidumping procedures.

雖然歐洲製造商反對給予中國“傾銷許可證”，但歐盟委員會的計劃是加強懲罰機制，避免削弱反傾銷程序。

The “lesser duty rule” — part of guidelines under which EU duties are calculated — would be suspended in extreme cases, in effect removing the cap on levies.

“從低徵稅規則”（lesser duty rule，計算歐盟關稅準則的一部分）將在極端情況下被暫停，實際上等於取消關稅上限。

“If the lesser duty rule was removed, in very simple terms it would enable the EU authorities to impose, in some cases, higher levels of duties,” said Peter Archbold, a senior director at Fitch, the credit rating agency.

“如果從低徵稅規則被移除，簡單來說，它將使歐盟當局在某些情況下能夠徵收較高水平的關稅，”信用評級機構惠譽(Fitch)的高級總監彼得•阿奇博爾德(Peter Archbold)表示。

“In Europe we’ve been seeing duty levels below 50 per cent, whereas in the US they have been well in excess of 200 per cent. And — certainly in part — that has contributed to the rise in the price of steel in the US.”

“在歐洲，我們看到的關稅水平不到50%，而在美國，它們遠遠高於200%，而這肯定在一定程度上導致美國鋼材價格上漲。”

The plan would accelerate EU antidumping procedures and entail a strengthening of little-used anti-subsidy penalties.

該計劃將加速歐盟反傾銷程序，並加強以往不常用的反補貼懲罰。

But the initiative faces significant hurdles, both in Europe and China.

但這一舉措無論在歐洲和中國都面臨顯著障礙。

Any change to the European regime would have to be endorsed both by member states and by the European Parliament, which has passed a non-binding resolution against market economy status for China.

歐洲制度的任何變化，都必須得到成員國和歐洲議會(European Parliament)批准，而歐洲議會已通過了一項反對給予中國市場經濟地位的無約束力決議。

Countries resisting change include Italy and Spain, while Germany is sceptical. Such resistance comes as western leaders feel the wrath of antiglobalisation sentiment, and industrial groups say Chinese overproduction has put them under severe strain

抵制改變的國家包括意大利和西班牙，而德國持懷疑態度。出現這種阻力之際，西方國家領導人感受到強烈的反全球化情緒，同時工業集團表示，中國的過度生產使它們受到沉重壓力。

In recent months Beijing has intensified its campaign for automatic entitlement to market status in December, the 15th anniversary of its accession to the WTO.

近幾個月來，北京方面加強了爭取在12月（中國加入世貿組織15週年）自動獲得市場經濟地位的活動。